When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter.

~Judges 11:34 NIV

I have learned a lot about worshipping God in the pain.

 

As a little girl, I remember shaking the handbells in Sunday school and feeling happy inside. While growing up, I took piano lessons and later majored in music in college. I loved singing because music brought me joy. But painful events later in life plunged me into deep periods of grief—surviving a tragic car accident, losing a friend, losing a son, and experiencing health issues that caused chronic pain. So where was the music then?

Perhaps many of us have experienced pain from debilitating health, lost a marriage or child, faced misunderstanding in a friendship, dealt with circumstances beyond our control, or had to care for an aging parent.

Jephthah’s daughter models how to worship God in our pain. Her father, Jephthah the Gileadite, was a mighty warrior but the son of a prostitute. He was kicked out of his family by the brothers of his father’s wife. But when they needed his strength, they called him to fight against their enemies. Jephthah vowed if he won, he would devote to God the first thing that came out of his house, which was his only daughter. She met her father, dancing to the sound of tambourines. Although we don’t know her name, she was a woman of praise.

Seeing her, Jephthah cried and tore his clothes, agonizing over the loss this would bring to keep his promise to God. Jephthah’s daughter could have manipulated her father, but she didn’t pressure him to break his promise. Instead, she said, “Father . . . do to me just as you promised” (Judges 11:36). She did, however, ask for one thing: to mourn before her death.

Jephthah permitted his daughter to go into the hills with her friends for two months to mourn her loss. She would never marry or have children. Each year after that, young women went into the country for four days to remember her (Judges 11:40). What a powerful impact this woman had on the women of her time and us. Despite her loss and suffering, she trusted God’s love.

I can’t explain why God allowed this, but I know He recorded this for us to remember. My heart weeps with Jephthah’s daughter. What an invitation to come to God with our sorrow and anguish. How many people do you know who have sacrificed their desires because of someone’s decision?

God did not fail Jephthah’s daughter. She lived with deep disappointment, but she trusted God in her pain. And I’d like to think she didn’t let go of her tambourine.

When Jesus was about to die, He told His disciples what they would experience. They would mourn, but after their weeping, they would experience joy. His life and resurrection were their sources of joy.

A couple of years ago, I bought a tambourine to shake in my happy moments—and in my difficult moments. God has helped me see He is the source of my joy, even in my pain. One day, God will remove all pain.

He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.

~Revelation 21:4 NIV

What disappointments and pain do you live with? Find a place like Jephthah’s daughter, bring safe friends to join you, and grieve your losses.

Father, only You have sufficiently anguished over my pain as You carried my sorrows through Jesus’ sacrificial death. Give me grace to worship You even in my losses.

Genre: Non-fiction

Copyright 2023: Worshipping God in the Pain: Lynne Head: All Rights Reserved