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Are you at a crossroad in your journey? Are you needing wisdom to know which road to take? Are you considering which of the roads in front of you is the best one for you? The probability is that all of your options look pretty good. Let’s face it – if one of your options looks like it will lead to complete disaster, you’re probably not wasting much time considering it. So your quandary is probably over which of the “good” options in front of you is the best. If that’s the case, you would do well to follow the example of a woman by the name of Rahab.
When i first wrote the chapter from which this post is excerpted, my wife and i were at one of those crossroads. We were in the midst of a transition from one place of ministry service to another. We had embarked on the transition because we knew God had clearly directed us to do so. His word had been unmistakable through our time with Him in Scripture, through the counsel of godly friends we trusted, and lastly, through the circumstances that had unfolded consistent with God’s clear word of direction.
Throughout my life, God has shown me that the order of those three elements – His Word, godly counsel and circumstances – is as important as the elements themselves. He has taught me that every aspect of my relationship with Him – my very life – must be solidly built on His Word. He tells us that “if you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth.…”(1) It is through His Word that i can receive and filter the counsel of others in order to discern if it is godly. It is through His Word that i am able to evaluate the circumstances that are before me to discern how i should best respond. If i react to either of the latter two (counsel or circumstances) without first hearing God’s direction through His Word, i am embarking on a fool’s errand without a compass or a rudder. But having heard from Him through His Word, He provides the “twins” of “counsel” and “circumstance” to help me apply the truth of His Word.
As Joshua was preparing to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, we find he was doing the same thing.(2) God had already given him a clear word before they crossed the Jordan River. He was now availing himself to the twins of “counsel and circumstance” by sending out two men to spy out the first fortification the people would encounter – the city of Jericho.
You may recall the story. In the course of the spies’ journey, they came to the house of Rahab. They didn’t know Rahab. They had never met her, and yet God led them straight to her doorstep. It reminds me of a similar situation several hundred years earlier. God had promised Abraham that He would raise up a nation from his offspring. God had given him a son named Isaac. And when it came time for Isaac to take a bride, Abraham sent out a trusted servant to find the bride.
God immediately led the servant into the presence of the very woman He had selected to be Isaac’s bride. The servant knew that the Lord had clearly directed him when he said, “as for me, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house.…”(3) Each and every day i find myself praying, “Lord, allow me to walk with You just as this servant did – led by You in Your way.” In the same manner, God led the spies right to the one He intended – Rahab.
God was already at work bringing glory to His Name through His people, and now His plan included Rahab. Rahab would one day be remembered for the sureness of her faith in the Books of Hebrews and James in the Bible. She would become a part of the lineage of the birth of Jesus, as the mother of Boaz and great-great-grandmother of David. But the sureness of her faith had nothing to do with her own sureness. When we first meet Rahab, we learn she was a prostitute. As the story unfolds, we see that she was also a liar. In short, she was a sinner – just like you and me.
You may recall that Rahab lied to protect the spies. So, before we go any further, let’s stop and ask a question – did God condone Rahab’s lies? No! Did she lie? Yes! Is lying a sin against God? Yes, we clearly see that expressed in the ninth commandment.(4) Could God have protected the spies from capture without Rahab’s lies? Unquestionably yes! Did God save her and her family when Jericho was destroyed because she lied to protect the spies? No, He did not! He saved her because of her faith in Him – despite her sin. That’s good news for us, because we too are often led astray by our sin nature even when we’re walking by faith. But still, by God’s grace, He rewarded her faith – because “she had received the spies with peace.”(5)
But so we don’t trample on God’s grace, let’s keep two foundational principles in mind. First, God will NEVER violate His Word. He will NEVER do anything – or lead us to do anything – that violates or is contrary to His Word. Take that to the bank! If we believe God is ever leading us to do anything that violates His Word, we must remember these three simple words – WE ARE WRONG! If we believe that a “righteous” end justifies “ungodly” means – WE ARE WRONG! If we believe God condones ungodly behavior because it “feels so right” – WE ARE WRONG!
Second, we cannot confuse God’s perfect will – His plan and purpose for our lives – with His permissive will – His decision as the Sovereign God to not supernaturally intervene when we exercise our free will to sin against Him. Rahab was rewarded because “she received the spies” (His perfect will) NOT because she lied (His permissive will).
Rahab demonstrated a sure faith by “receiving the spies” – not based upon any sureness she had in herself, or the sureness of the two spies; she demonstrated a sure faith because of the sureness of the Supreme God! Listen to her own declaration about God to the spies: “…the LORD your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.”(6) Flesh and blood had not revealed that to her. By God’s grace – and His alone – He revealed Himself to Rahab and she acknowledged Him as the One True God and acted by faith – despite peril.
James, the half-brother of Jesus, later wrote, “you see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”(7)
Rahab exercised a sure faith – unwavering and fully committed to the One in whom her faith was placed, based upon Who He was and what He had said. As we decide which of the roads we should take, we would do well to follow her example and take the road God has directed us to take through a faith that is sure.
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This post is adapted from Possessing The Promise, chapter 4, entitled “A Sure Faith” This third book in the Lessons Learned In The Wilderness series is available through Amazon in print or for your e-reader. Click HERE for more information on how you can obtain your copy.
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(1) John 8:31-32 (NKJ)
(2) Joshua 2:1-21 (NLT) – summarized:
Then Joshua secretly sent out two spies from the Israelite camp at Acacia Grove…. So the two men set out and came to the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there that night…. Rahab had hidden the two men…. Before the spies went to sleep that night, Rahab went up on the roof to talk with them. “I know the LORD has given you this land,” she told them…. “For the LORD your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below. Now swear to me by the LORD that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you….”
(3) Genesis 24:27 (NKJ)
(4) Exodus 20:16
(5) Hebrews 11:31 (NKJ)
(6) Joshua 2:11 (NLT)
(7) James 2:24-26 (NLT)
Copyright © 2021 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.
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