I’ve never had to use crutches, but I’ll have to tell you, I always thought they were pretty cool. Maybe the fact that I think they’re cool is because I’ve never had to use them. In the last few years, I’ve noticed they have an even cooler alternative to crutches now, the “one knee wheely cart.” (Yes, that’s a very technical medical term) You know what I’m talking about, someone has a cast or brace on one leg, so they put their knee on the padded seat and then push themselves around on this cool tricycle looking thing. I bet there’s a few daredevils out there with broken legs that can even pull off some gnarly tricks on them. But of the people I’ve known required to use either of these, compared to the freedom of walking on your own, they can be a hindrance. Carrying the crutches or carts around everywhere, getting in and out of cars with them, getting up and down stairs, and in your own house getting in and out of doors. In fact, because of this hindrance, the word crutch has become some what of a negative term. I can’t do that, I have a crutch. Or she has a crutch in her life that somehow limits her. A medical assistance device that has taken on a meaning that goes much deeper in limiting life.
In life though, we all have crutches. We all have limitations. Some may be valid and some invalid. Some are imposed upon us and some we impose upon ourselves. Some can be mighty to overcome, and some can be tremendously simple to overcome, yet made impossible in our minds. You see, when it comes to conquering the crutches in your life, the single biggest opponent you will ever face is the one that looks back at you in the mirror. No matter what crutches you face in life, the battle of overcoming them lies within.
Today in Judges 11 we are introduced to Jephthah, the ninth judge of Israel. And as we receive our introduction, we are also immediately, in verse one, introduced to Jephthah’s crutch.
“Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior, but he was the son of a prostitute. Gilead was the father of Jephthah.” Judges 11:1
As I started my study time in God’s Word this morning, the first verse jumped off the page, especially the word but. I’m told that Jephthah was a mighty warrior, apparently a strong, brave, valiant man. He was a Gileadite from Gilead, and his father was the very namesake of the tribe. He enjoyed a very noble lineage. So far, these are all good, admirable, and respectable characteristics. Yet, in the middle of the verse is a huge three letter word that changes it all. But. But he was the son of a prostitute. And even worse, a gentile prostitute. You see, we all have crutches in our lives, and they show up as “buts” to us and others. What is the but in your life?
See if any of these sounds familiar. I would love to serve at my church more, but I just don’t have time. I would love to teach the Bible to my kids, but I just don’t know enough about it. I would love to pray with my wife, but it just feels so awkward. I would like to tell my co-worker about Jesus, but I just get so scared that she’ll think I’m a crazy church person. I would like to join that church, but I’ve been divorced before and I’m afraid of what they would think of me. I would like to help other woman through the struggles in their life, but the things I’ve done in life are just so bad. I would like to go back to school and finish my degree, but I’m just too old. I would like to teach at my church, but I never went to Seminary. I would love to spend more time with my kids, but I'm so busy at work. I would love to go on a mission trip to Africa, but I just don’t have the money. Friends, this list can go on and on until Jesus comes back. You see, the buts of life are varied, numerous and beyond all personal. Yet I have great news for you concerning the buts in your life. You might care. Your friends or family might care. The world might care. However, Jesus Christ does not care about the buts in your life. In fact, as you study the Word of God, you’ll see over and over that He uses the buts in countless lives to do amazing and miraculous things.
The but in Jephthah’s life causes him much heart ache. Because he is illegitimate, he is exiled from Gilead, banished from society because of his but. Because his mother was also a gentile, he was barred from the congregation of the Lord, excommunicated from worshiping God because of his but. After his exile, his rejection causes him to go his own way. He settled in the land of Tob and recruited a band of “worthless, lawless” men. Jephthah created a gang of outlaws and he is their leader. He is the son of a gentile harlot, he has been exiled by his own people, he has been thrown out of the church, and he is the ring-leader of a gang of good for nothing hoodlums. Jephthah has many buts in his life, nevertheless, God doesn’t care. God still calls on Jephthah to do His work.
Remember that before Jephthah’s but in verse 1 of Judges 11, we are told that he was a “mighty warrior.” You see, in spite of his but, he had admirable traits. And that is exactly what God homed in on. In yet another show of the glory and love of God, He doesn’t look at us the way the world does. He doesn’t look at us and only see our buts the way the world does. He see the good that lies beyond the buts and that is what He chooses to use in us. Jephthah goes on to do powerful things for God as a mighty warrior and his work for God even lands him in the champions of faith chapter, Hebrews 11. I would say that despite the many buts in his life, Jephthah chose to believe in God rather than believing the buts.
Today, don’t see the buts in your life as definitive of who you are. They are not. Today don’t allow the way others see the buts in your life to define how you see yourself. It doesn’t. Today, allow the call of God to settle on the amazing traits you possess and He will use them to further His Kingdom. Focus on the skills and abilities that God has blessed you with and refuse to believe the lies of the buts in your life. Moses was called by God, but He was a murderer. David was a man after God’s own heart, but he was an adulterer. Paul was called by God to be the greatest missionary of the entire Bible, but he started as murderer of Christians. Folks, the buts in your life puts you in very good company. A company of men and women that rose above the buts, and in great faith, allowed the power of God to use them in mighty ways.
Instead of letting your buts limit your life, let God’s power do a mighty work through you. As a result, God can turn it around to this…
He was such an ordinary, flawed person, but God did amazing things through his life!
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