Title Make your handicap your strength 1
Content: God loves you so much. How great and deep was that love, that He Himself sent Jesus to this earth to save us from our sins and transgressions? Do you know God's heart for you? God loves you so much. So he doesn't want you to live your life just like that without any dreams and no purpose in life. Youth who have lost hope in themselves are the most pitiful. God doesn't want you to live a miserable life. That is why God often corners us through trials and tribulations. Winston Churchill once said, “A pessimist sees hardships with every opportunity. An optimist sees an opportunity every time a hardship comes.”
Many young people are willing to give up even if it is a little difficult. Many young people feel stressed when the exam period is over, and they wish to not take the exam if possible. Everyone, it is easy to avoid the exam, but through the exam, you can find out what you lack and check where you need to work harder. Therefore, the test makes me aware of my shortcomings and problems, and serves as a stepping stone for moving forward. However, if you do not fully believe in God's heart to help you grow through trials, then if you give up easily and get frustrated, you will become a worthless person who can't achieve anything. On the other hand, if you believe in the hardships and countless trials that come to you with God's love and consideration and pass those tests, you will become like gold.
“Only he knows the way I go.
After he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” Job 23:10
There is an article in Charles Spurgeon's Meditation Book, "The Medicine of Pain".
This article is a valuable lesson for those of you who are suffering and groaning in your youth. Suffering is also a tool of grace that God uses. What made you even dry your tears now? Whatever it is, even though it is a series of trials and tribulations covered by dark clouds now, I hope that you will surely become the rising sun tomorrow because our Jesus will be our strength and help. Jephthah who appears in today's text can be said to be a role model for all of us in that sense. Jephthah became a great man used by God in spite of many handicaps. If he had become a prisoner of his handicap and gave up his life, he would never have been a great judge. Jephthah did not succumb to any handicap he had, and became a judge approved by God, and became the leader of the nation who led the fight against Ammon to victory. This is because he used his handicap as an advantage. I pray that God's comfort and encouragement will come to you through this Jephthah.
Jephthah had a birth handicap (verses 1 and 2).
The Hebrew word for the name Jephthah, ‘iftah’, means ‘Jehovah sets loose’. Jephthah was used by God as a judge who freed Israel from the oppression of Ammon and set them free according to the meaning of his name. However, the Bible introduces Jephthah from Gilead as “the son of a prostitute.” ‘Jona Lee’, which is a ‘gisaeng’, refers to ‘a prostitute who moves from place to place to make money’. In other words, Jephthah's mother was not a virtuous woman, but a prostitute who was despised in society. Furthermore, Jephthah's mother was a concubine, not a wife, so Jephthah's birth was very low. As a result, Jephthah had no place to sit.
I hope you can overcome your handicap with faith.
Today, as the divorce rate is rapidly increasing, the number of teenagers growing up in broken families is increasing. It is also true that, as the number of single teenage mothers is increasing, there are also many children who are raised illegitimately. In the end, the broken family can't stand it, so many young people run away from home and go down the wrong path of committing delinquency. They are even committing suicide. It is clear that young people with birth handicap like Jephthah are experiencing unbearable psychological pain. You don't know how many young people in these sensitive times have spent the night in tears, locking themselves in the despair and curses of life. But for him, the handicap is the fact that, as Spurgeon said, it is the medicine that makes life beautiful. Everyone lives with a handicap, small or large. As there is a saying that the more bitter the medicine, the better the body. The bigger the handicap, the brighter the life is like a jewel. Helen Keller, who overcame a handicap that could not be seen, heard or spoken just two years after birth and graduated from a prestigious university, dedicated her life to helping the unfortunate. One day she said to her mother:
“Mother, I have always thought that if a human being has a strong will, he can overcome an unfortunate fate. But now I have a completely different opinion. Without the loving education of my father and mother, as well as wonderful people like Mr. Sullivan, I would not have been able to be who I am today. So I can't help but feel grateful for my happiness, and at the same time feel that I have a sacred duty to share this happiness with those less fortunate than me. Also, I think that this is the only way to repay God who has given us many graces so far.”
That's right. Even if we too face great suffering and trials due to our handicap, we will regard it as a gift from God like Helen Keller, and rather, if we can learn the love of Jesus Christ physically through the suffering and difficulties we face due to that handicap, we will be happy people. is. It is clear that the handicap that one has regardless of one's will is a 'mountain' that is difficult to overcome. But there is no mountain we cannot climb. Hope you all get through the storm of handicap. No matter what trials and tribulations may come in your life, I hope that you will not be afraid, but believe in God's plan and proceed with prayer. Then your handicap will be a channel to training your strengths.
Wrap-up
I hope you do not give up on your dreams because of your handicap. In the face of adversity and trials caused by handicap, I hope that instead of choosing to complain and resentment, we can have a dream and choose gratitude through faith. If Jephthah had been pessimistic about his birth and spent the years grumbling and sighing, he would never have been able to become a judge. God is our strength. God will give you the strength and grace you can bear. Please believe that Jephthah overcame his handicap through faith in God. Rather than being pessimistic about his situation, Jephthah believed in God's good plan. Please believe that Jephthah has grown into a strong and courageous man of faith in the face of all kinds of trials and tribulations. Dear youth, what handicap do you have? Please believe that any handicap, whether it be your appearance or family environment, will be transformed into a strength as long as God's grace comes upon you. If you have the faith to use your handicap as your strength, you will be reborn as a wonderful person.