Jud 11:29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites.

      

There are times and circumstances when we look at what is happening around us and we feel there is no hope. It is beyond us. We are not up to it! Then suddenly the Lord turns up and fills us with His Spirit and we are enabled to do that which had previously been impossible. That is how it is with the Lord. His presence and power enables us to do things we previously couldn't do.

 

That is how it was with Jephthah. He had a task and the Lord came and gave him the enabling he needed. Now there is something quite terrible that needs to be seen in respect of this man. In his foolishness and limited understanding of the Lord, he did not realise that the Lord was with him and the Lord wanted him to achieve the task more than he did. The fact that he has been empowered by the Lord, an observable thing, should have told him that God was on his case and was there before him.

God was going to help him overcome the enemy without any prompting, but in his foolishness he seeks to bargain with the Lord by making a silly vow if God would act for him. He didn't need to make it! And when God gave him victory he didn't need to keep it! He would have done better to confess his sin, repent and make an offering and be forgiven – but he didn't. You can read the sad story yourself. Realise that God is for us and you don't need to bargain! (Rom 8:31-39) Thank Him that He accepts you as you are and loves you so much that He has even better for you to come.

To conclude, check again your thinking about the Holy Spirit. Do we realise how essential it is that we be filled with Him if we are to accomplish the will of God and do the things He has on His heart for us?  The book of Judges is often a very negative book but it does give us illustration after illustration of powerless people on whom the Spirit came and they were then empowered to do the will of God. Don't ever think you can achieve the works of God without His power, His presence, His Holy Spirit. Seek Him for it afresh today.