Heb 11:30  By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been compassed seven days.
Heb 11:31  By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

Right after the Jericho-wall-came-down testimony comes the most unlikely ‘patriarch’ of faith – Rahab! How in the world would Rahab make it to the list with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua and other big shots? How comfortable is it thinking of Rahab in my cloud of witnesses? Unconventional to say the least! And what’s more? Rahab made it to the lineage of Jesus. This is too much for a … [it’s even difficult to mention such a word].

This should cause a great confusion for theologians; Moralists will definitely ‘beef’ God on this one. It’s just by mercy that even a righteous man be saved but hey, not a whore! There should have been other ‘normal’ people around that could be used for such a noble cause. Why a prostitute for God’s sake!

But this is where we see the very character of God; this is how we differ in reasoning. God will not be boxed up in our moralist pattern of thought. Of course He’s not thumbing up her ignoble profession, but one thing is clear – Whenever anyone recognizes God’s presence or interests and takes corresponding action, heaven will give such one great audience. When all the people with the ‘legal’ claims to blessings and privileges bask in euphoria of possibilities, if the seemingly illegal people take corresponding action, they will not be ignored. Jesus couldn’t ignore such people on a couple of occasions.

Another home truth here is not to look down on anyone irrespective of their current positions and past blunders. Let’s face it , we are not overly impressive if we really examine ourselves. So our posture whenever we see others not as privileged as us is to still hope for the best for them. All Rahab did was probably to be born in Canaan, maybe her Dad divorced her mum or worse still she never knew her dad and then the typical ‘way-out’ was to ‘use her valuables’ to get money and survive. And by the way, even if Rahab might have been a proud, spoilt brat (as her name suggests), God still gave her a chance to be a deliverer.

So as you meet all kinds of people today, people higher, lower, contemporaries and all, your best posture is to hope for the best in them. Another side of this is irrespective of your weaknesses, God is still hoping for the best to come out of you. Samson made it to the list of Patriarchs for God’s sake. So brace up yourself and know that though you feel you don’t merit the many blessings of life, life will still offer you opportunities to make up for your past mistakes. But you need to take corresponding action today.

What error have you made in your career, family, relationships, business, ministry,…, you can make amend right from this moment. Life and God await your corresponding action and the table will turn for you in degrees that you couldn’t even have imagined. If you take corresponding action, even if you feel like a Rahab today, you’ll realize that there’s only a thin line between Rahab and Noah!

So do I have a (new) witness that is gonna hope for the best in others and themselves in spite of the current unpleasant situation? Remember Rahab and put aside every ‘weight and sin that easily besets’.

All the best.