Rahab & the Spies

BY Amanda Bible Williams

Just yesterday, I forgot again. It had been a long day, and I was tired—physically tired, but emotionally exhausted too. It seems we live in that place of general fatigue more often than not these days, huh? And when an already-full cup gets bumped, we all know what happens: it spills over, and there is usually a mess to clean up. 

I spilled over, and circumstances are not to blame. Circumstances, I’ve lived long enough to know, are always going to shift and change. If I set my hope on them, I’m guaranteed disappointment and discouragement. So, I must set my hope on something else instead—Someone else. I must remember what is true when the stresses of life fill me to the brim. I must remember who is true.

Rahab’s story in Joshua 2 is one of my favorite narratives in Scripture. I love that this loudly-labeled woman defies her definition and turns toward Yahweh in a remarkable plot twist. I love the symbolism of that scarlet cord in the window and the passion I can imagine in Rahab’s voice as I read her words. But the thing that gets me every single time I read Rahab’s story is how she seems to understand from the start something I struggle with daily. She recalls and remembers the acts of Yahweh, and this leads her to worship—right there in the most unlikely and uncertain of circumstances:

“I know that the LORD has given you this land and that the terror of you has fallen on us… 
we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you… 
When we heard this, we lost heart, and everyone’s courage failed because of you, 
for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on earth below” 
(Joshua 2:9–11, emphasis mine).

Rahab calls to mind what she knows, and this leads her to profess what she believes. What if we did the same? Whether we’ve walked with the Lord for days or decades, we are here opening His Word together because we have seen Him at work in our hearts, our lives, our world, or all of the above. We have seen evidence of His hand, His goodness, His glory, and it’s enough to melt our very hearts before Him in awe and worship. What if we made a practice of remembering this? Not just when it’s easy, but when it’s hard. Not only when blessings are evident, but when they’re hidden. Not in times of ease, but in times of stress. 

Join me today in recalling what you’ve seen God do. Join me in remembering who He is. Let the record of His faithfulness draw you to worship, and let’s echo Rahab’s profession together: “The LORD your God is God in heaven above and on earth below” (Joshua 2:11). We give our moments, days, and hearts to Him.