Judging

Day one hundred sixty-two

Today I am hoping to find the right balance of work and some fun family time.  There is still a lot of work to do for the pioneer trek, my house needs to be cleaned, and my family still needs to have some time to just chill together.  It is times like these when I realize the benefit of living with three men, they might not always clean as well as I do, but when life gets busy and the house doesn't get mom clean they really don't care!  

So my prayer this morning was filled with gratitude for these little blessings and a request to help me keep things in perspective today and have a little fun too!

Joshua 2

"Don't judge a book by its cover."  I think this is a fitting quote to go with this chapter and the discussion of a harlot named Rahab.  In Joshua chapter 2 the Lord provides an opportunity for us to examine the way we see other people and our interaction with them or lack of interaction with them because of judgements we make.

First a little background information: Joshua sends spies into Jericho to check it out before the Israelite army makes its move.  When the spies arrive in Jericho, they enter into what everyone thought was a harlot's house. This actually makes some sense, after all, no one would be suspicious of men entering a house of ill repute. However, when they entered Rahab's house, they found a woman who had already been touched by the Spirit and power of God. God was in the process of rehabilitating this woman’s entire life.

The story of Rahab reveals again God's willingness to use the less than perfect, the outcast, what we may see as the unsuitable to accomplish his holy purposes. A prostitute living in the midst of an idolatrous people, a people that would have looked down upon her and even shunned her. That is who God choose to work through to assist the Israelites in their conquer of Jericho.  In spite of her lifestyle; in spite of her pagan background God gave her a chance.  

 How did the Lord reach Rahab to change her heart? She had heard the amazing stories about the exploits of the God of the Israelites (Josh 2:9-10) and she had come to believe in the power of this God (Josh 2:11).  God had given her forty years worth of grace and warnings, and she paid attention!

So many lessons to learn from this story!  I think about all the people in my lifetime that I have treated poorly because of who they are or their circumstances.  I am not proud of this behavior, much of it is learned from the world, but when I chose to become a Christian I promised to be like Jesus and He sees beyond the current situation and sees the potential in people.  Something I need to work on every day.

Then there is the lesson of realizing that our actions can have an affect on people that we don't even know.  The Israelites weren't sitting around thinking about how their actions were affecting others, they were busy trying to learn to let the Lord prepare them, but during their preparation, their decisions and behavior was used by the Lord to soften the hearts of some and put fear into others.  Who knows what the Lord is teaching others through our lives!

In Rahab, I see the power of God to transform the lives of those who come to know Him. Just as the Lord changed this woman, He is able to rehabilitate any life that is brought to Him. Regardless of how wicked, how broken, how lost or how wretched it may be.  Rahab put her faith in God (Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25) and she did not disappoint Him.  Her decision would result in victory for God's people and destruction of the wicked.  I hope that when the Lord calls on me to put my faith in Him that I will not disappoint Him either!