Rahab - Desperate Faith

Read Joshua 1 and 2

Have you ever wondered what it means to step out in faith with Jesus?

Rahab found the Israelite spies, and the Bible tells us in Joshua 2 they came to her home. When evening came, the king of Jericho was informed about these Hebrew spies and where they had gone. The king sent word to Rahab to turn the spies over to his people.

Rahab told the guards and soldiers that the men who had come to her had already departed, and urged them to run after the spies along the road to catch them. Then, Rahab returned to where she had hidden the two men and asked them to save the life of her family and herself when the army came to destroy Jericho. She told the men how afraid everyone was of God’s people; everyone was convinced God would destroy them just as they had heard God had defeated all the rest of the nations standing against Israel.

Rahab made a desperate choice. She chose to act against everything and everyone she had ever known to ask the help of this God she knew so little about, other than the stories she had heard. When the two spies asked her to mark her home with a red cord in the window through which she sent them out of the city, she did what they asked. Can you imagine the number of questions she received about why she had tied this red cord in her window?

There was still much she did not understand about God. For example, she did not know how much God hated a lie, the kind of lie she told the king and his guards about the spies being gone. Yet, God saved her and her family anyway because she chose Him over everything else she had ever known.

Sometimes we too are asked to choose God even when we are certain we don’t know all the details. How often do we ask “Why?” when God asks us to do something for Him which we do not understand? How often do we ask for understanding or details before we do what He has asked?

Jesus said in Luke 14:26 that anyone who does not hate their father or mother or family cannot be His disciple. This is not the kind of hate coming from anger or jealousy, but the kind of hate that makes a choice between two people – choosing to follow the one and forsaking the other if necessary.

In Rahab’s life the choice was between all she had ever known and God whom she had only heard about. She asked for the life of her family, but the ultimate decision had to be made by each of them. They could have chosen to step outside of Rahab’s house for any reason. There were no weapons fired to persuade them to stay inside. There was no sign of danger to make them hide in fear. There was only Rahab’s word that she had asked the spies to save them, and they had said they should stay in the house.

*When have you chosen what God asked of you over what you already thought to be true?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for providing each of us with a red cord of salvation through Jesus Christ. May we hold onto the Savior even when we don't understand all that is going on around us...even when we can't see what will happen. We do not know what to do but our eyes are on You. In Jesus' name, Amen.