Great is the Lord in whom we have the victory…..

Joshua Chapter 2 contains a lovely, heart-warming story. About a prostitute. She is not the victim but the hero. No one rides in like a knight in shining armour and saves her from her situation. Quite the opposite. She is the one who offers refuge and protection.  She is not portrayed as the baddie but as a courageous woman with a heart full of kindness towards two strangers and love towards her family. And yet it is still mentioned that she is a prostitute.

Joshua sends two spies ahead of the Israelites to check out the land, especially the town of Jericho. They go and stay in Rahab’s house. Rahab the known prostitute. (I know, what were they thinking? What would people say?)  The King of Jericho is told about the spies and sends a message to Rahab to give them up (you see, news travels fast. Everyone did know – even the King!). She hides the men under stalks of flax laid out on her roof and claims that the men (who she didn’t know were Israelites apparently) had already left. The men go off in pursuit of the spies. The spies lay down to sleep in peace.

Rahab now has a favour to ask of the spies. In return for her kindness, she would like an act of kindness in return. She asks the spies for protection for herself and her family when the Israelites come and take over Jericho (which is a forgone conclusion to her). She lets them down from a window that is part of the city wall so that they can hide in the hills until it is safe to return home. She has saved their lives. She has given them refuge. She has risked her own life. She has provided them with a way of escape.

The spies agree to her request – on one condition. That she hangs a scarlet cord at the window that they escaped from and that all the family take refuge together in that house.

The spies return to Joshua and recount the whole tale concluding with these words –

The Lord has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.  Joshua 2:24

Melting in fear….what a phrase. Rahab had already used this phrase twice earlier in this encounter to describe her people. And what are they melting in fear?

Because of God. Because of who God is and what He has done.

I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.  Joshua 2:9-11

The fear that has fallen on the people will weaken their armies. They know that the battle is already lost. If God is on the side of the Israelites, then what chance do the people of Jericho have? If God has performed all these mighty acts already, what chance do they have of standing up to the all-powerful God? No wonder their hearts are melting in fear and their courage is failing.

They understand who God is and what He is capable of.

I think we have lost sight of that. We have forgotten how to ‘walk in faith and victory’.  And by victory, I don’t mean everything goes right for us all of the time – of course not. I mean that even when things do not go right, we can walk in the faith and victory of knowing that the all-powerful God is on our side and will always walk with us and give us the courage and confidence and strength to walk on.

Even when things go tragically wrong. I was at a thanksgiving service yesterday for a friend taken far too early and leaving behind a wife, young family, parents and friends to grieve his loss.

How can a God take one of His best? How can He be that cruel? What kind of God does that to a wonderful family that have shined for him through all the ups and downs they have shared? How can we believe in a God like that?

But you know what, there was no sense of that in the service yesterday. No doubting in God – in who He is and what He can do.

Quite the opposite. We started by remembering God and all that He has done for us – Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. Then we remembered Andy and gave thanks to God for him and the effect he had on each one of our lives. Then we were encouraged to find Jesus amidst the pain and grief and questions and carry his hope and peace forward with us into whatever our future holds. We were each given a little packet of sunflower seeds to plant and watch grow as a symbol that death is not the end – great is the Lord in whom we have the victory.

Just as Andy himself was inspiring, so this service of thanksgiving was an inspiration to everyone there.

‘You alone are God eternal, throughout earth and heaven above.’

We should never forget that. That is how we can live life to the full everyday, whatever struggles and pain and anxieties threaten to cause our hearts to melt in fear and our courage to fail.

‘The Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.’

Rahab knew this. She believed it. She let this belief guide her actions.

I want to know this with all my heart today. I want to believe it. I want this belief to guide my actions today and everyday.

PS: Rahab was a prostitute. Again, as we see often in the Bible, God works through someone we would maybe consider unworthy to be used by God. God works through the most unlikely people. Even those with issues of sexual sin it seems. God can be seen at work in the most unlikely people and places today too if we open our eyes and look for Him. It shouldn’t surprise us. It probably will, but enjoy getting to know the God of surprises wherever you come across Him today.