went and traded with them and gained

Still musing on my post from yesterday on bargaining with God. I call it bribery since we're in no real position to extract anything from God. But as I mentioned earlier this week, just started 1Sam1, and in it, we get Hannah bargaining with God. She pleads with Him and promises to give up her son if He grants her one. Her psalm of praise in 1Sam2 gives us a clue as to how the Word sees her: faithful and giving the Lord all the credit.

We get a similar scene in Judges11. Jephthah makes a deal with God: the first thing he sees at his house for victory over the Ammonites. He ends up giving up his daughter to fulfill his side of the bargain. And this is not seen as shameless bribery; au contraire, Heb11:32 reckons it faith. What to make of this?

Two things. Like everything else about faith, the intention of your heart makes a difference. In my case, bribery for one man to win an election is more to satisfy my beliefs and my desires rather than to honor God. In contrast, Judges11:29 says Jepthah is filled with the Spirit when he makes his vow. Perhaps the Lord looks on some negotiations as intentions to glorify God rather than to extract something from Him, and so He allows those to occur.

Secondly, to the extent that we're playing with His resources, God humors us to test our faith. I give my kids allowances for doing chores, and they get to spend it on things like gum. Since they don't carry money with them, when we're at the store and they see something they want, I pay for it and they pay me back when we get home -- with money that I had given them in the first place. I involved them in the transaction even though I basically bought it for them.

Perhaps the Lord is the same way. He's given us all these gifts and resources and thoughts. Perhaps He doesn't see our attempts at bargaining as pathetic. Perhaps He sees our heart and sees our intentions and sees these children of His begging for what they want and smiles and says "Well, let's see where this goes..."