And this makes me nervous.
I've literally lost him more times than I can remember. I lost him on Halloween. Panicked, I ran from booth to booth at the Halloween carnival. Finally a cowboy came up to me carrying my Yoda-clad son.
Brave, I think he is. (That was a Yoda impression.)
But he's not brave. Brave means making a move while knowing the risk. And my precious son knows no risk. Strangers, forests, animals. He does not calculate the danger in his actions.
He's not brave. He's just a terrible decision maker.
Now, Rahab? She was brave. She knew danger and risk and she made her move anyway. If you're not familiar with her story, here it is in a nutshell taken from Joshua 2:
Rahab operated an inn in the wall of the city of Jericho. Jericho was the home of the Canaanite people. These people knew God had promised their city to the Israelites, led by Joshua. The people of the city were "melting" in fear because they had heard of the amazing victories won by the Israelite army. Joshua sent two spies into the city to scout it out. The spies, being good spies, went to the local inn which could also serve as a tavern. (What better place to get information than a bar full of drunk people with loose lips?) Here they are discovered, but before Jericho soldiers arrive Rahab has hidden them on her roof.
An important fact about our heroine, Rahab: she was a prostitute. And we're not talking glamorous Julia Roberts-Pretty Woman prostitute. She practiced her profession in a Godless city where morals and kindness did not exist. It was gritty and dirty and she was in the thick of it. No stories of escargot and hotel suites here.
Once the soldiers arrive at her inn she tells them that the Israelite spies have gone, that they have fled from the city and if you hurry you can catch them! They went thataway!
Rahab returns to the roof and the hidden spies, telling them how to avoid capture. She boldly professes to them faith in their God, knowing that if God sees fit to give Jericho over to them it will happen.
See, Rahab lived in harsh conditions. She was unmarried, a prostitute, and possibly providing for her parents and younger siblings. She had no hope for her future. No man would ever have her and she would never be a mother. She was low on the totem pole of society. She hid these spies knowing if she was found out by Jericho officials she, and most likely, all she loved would be killed.
So why did she risk it?
Beloved, she risked her safety for something better.
In exchange for their safety, the spies promised her family would be spared destruction once the Israelite army attacked. They would pass over her house if she tied a scarlet cord in her window. They would welcome her and her family into the house of Israel.
I want to be brave like Rahab. I want to risk discomfort of the known for a chance at the peace of the unknown.
Her bravery served her well. Not only did the Israelites attack, but they were true to their word and spared Rahab and her family. She left the slums of prostitution. And her bravery was honored by Joshua. She married one of the spies, Salmon. Salmon, who was most likely Hebrew royalty.
Her story does not end there. She becomes the mother of Boaz. And if you know the story of Ruth, you're familiar with his name. If not go and read this short book of the Bible and see the amazing man that is her son. Amazing men come from amazing mothers.
Her story does not end there, either. Boaz becomes the father of Obed. Obed becomes the father of Jesse. And Jesse becomes the father of ....King David, the man after God's own heart.
Oh and beloved, her story doesn't end here, either. If you follow the lineage listed in the first chapter of Matthew you'll read some really lovely, skin-tingling words: "and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab." Who's genealogy is is being listed?
None other than Jesus Christ, Himself.
Rahab is listed in the Heroes of Faith in Hebrews and is counted as "right with God" for her bravery in James 2:25.
Rahab risked her less than perfect present for a better than perfect future.
Am I brave enough to do that, too? Do I have the courage to step out in the faith of God? To allow Him to create a future for me than is only found in my wildest dreams?
Because there will be no Richard Gere coming to change my life. I've got something better. Way better. I have the sovereign God of the Universe who wants to bless my life and my path.
If, through God, a prostitute can become:
the wife of a prince,
the mother of a kind and generous man,
the great great grandmother of a king,
and the ancestor of the Messiah,
then what can He do with me?
Beloved, let's be like Rahab. Let's trust in the God of the Israelites, too.
Let's do something brave for the chance at something better.
Lord Jesus, Descendant of brave Rahab, create in us a heart that is brave like hers.
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