God Can Redeem What Hurt You

THIS WEEK’S BOLD STEP DEVOTION

“Jephthah said to them, ‘Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house? Why do you come to me now, when you’re in trouble?’”
(Judges 11:7)

Sometimes life doesn’t turn out the way we thought it would. A door closes that we were sure would open. Someone we trusted lets us down. We find ourselves in a season we never would have chosen, wondering how any of it could possibly fit into God’s plan. And while we’re living through it, it’s hard to see anything good coming from it. But then time passes, and we begin to see things differently. We realize that God was teaching us, strengthening us, and preparing us in ways we couldn’t see at the time. The season that we thought was wasted wasn’t wasted at all.

That’s part of what makes Jephthah’s story so powerful. He knew what it was like to be rejected by the people who should have loved him. Born outside of his father’s marriage, he was pushed away by his own brothers and told he would have no inheritance, so he left. He found himself among other outcasts and began building a life far from home, but God hadn’t forgotten him. Even in that painful season, Jephthah was developing skills that would later be used when Israel needed someone to lead them. God has a way of redeeming what we pick up in the valleys of life.

But Jephthah’s story also reminds us that the wounds of our past need to be surrendered to God. Jephthah stepped into God’s calling and experienced His power, yet some of the broken thinking he had carried with him eventually surfaced in a tragic and reckless vow. My friend, God doesn’t just want to use what you’ve been through. He wants to heal and transform you through it so the pain of your past doesn’t continue to shape your future. Your pain can become part of your purpose, but it was never meant to become your identity. Bring those broken places to God and let Him heal what needs to be healed, redeem what can be redeemed, and use your story for His purposes.

Bold Step Challenge:
Think about a difficult season in your past that still feels like wasted time. Instead of only asking why it happened, ask God what He wants to redeem from it. Consider what He taught you, developed in you, or equipped you to do through that experience. Then ask Him how He might want to use it today.

Prayer:
Father, thank You that no part of my story is beyond Your ability to redeem. I surrender the painful places of my past to You. Heal what still needs healing, and don’t allow old wounds to control the way I live today. Take what I’ve learned in the valleys and use it for Your purposes. Help me step into Your calling with faith, courage, and complete surrender. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Listen to the sermon: series title here

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