Stories...

In the Bible there are many, many wonderful, exciting stories. One of my favorites is the story of Rahab in Joshua 2. Now I never really knew why I was so attracted to this particular story so, I decided to dig a little deeper.

What do we know about Rahab?

She was a prostitute
In Hebrew her name literally means a woman, a prostitute
She was an outcast
She was at her lowest point in life

We see how one thing leads to another for Rahab; she was a prostitute so she became an outcast, which led to her being, at what I believe to be, the lowest point in her life. So, as I was searching further, I stopped for a second and thought, what would it be like to be in Rahab's shoes? I can't even imagine just how draining that would be. She is selling herself and in doing that she looses everything it means to be a woman; she looses her pride, dignity, and self-esteem on a daily basis. At this point she has reached rock bottom. But something happens that seems to surprise everyone. She hides and protects two strangers that are spying in her land! You see, it's not such a surprise because, God could not have chosen just anybody to help those spies. If they had been at the "wrong place at the wrong time" then they would have been caught. Rahab was so far down that she could do it. Then and only then could that happen - she had nothing to lose. You see over and over again in the Bible that God chooses the people that are at their worst to change the world. He chooses the most broken people to make a difference and impact others. Yes, she was broken and that is why she was able to make this decision but, she also had to have the courage to take that leap of faith. She had to have the courage to trust strangers, spies she didn't even know. She had to have courage to follow a God she had heard about and who she feared. And yet in this desperate place, she was still able to do it. She was able to take a leap that most of us have never done. There is just so much to this amazing story. Take that leap of faith, and our stories matter, no matter how big, how broken, or how small and simple.

Until next time,