When Your World Crumbles - Encouragement Café - September 14

When Your World Crumbles
 By Carolyn Dale Newell

By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe when she had received the spies with peace Hebrews 11:30-31 NKJV.

The earth shakes. The walls rattle. They begin to crack as you hear the cries of your neighbors. People scamper running for their lives as buildings tumble to the ground. Destruction lays all around, but your home is still intact.

Rahab the harlot remained in her home with her family. The scarlet thread hung in the window like the spies had instructed her.

Her house sat on the wall, but when Jericho fell, one section stood, the house of the harlot.  Her family was escorted out of the house as promised by the Israelites.

While studying this passage, I found no commentary on the last two words of our focal verses: “with Peace.”

When everything falls apart, peace holds us together. Rahab kept her cool. From the moment the spies knocked on her door, treating her with respect, she sensed a serene calm.

These men were unlike her usual visitors. They acted as the hands and feet of the Lord, and they substantiated everything Rahab had heard about the God of Israel.

Tranquility filled Rahab’s spirit as she hid the spies on her rooftop. With a gentle confidence, she redirected the king’s men searching for the spies.

How could Rahab keep her cool when most of us would have panicked? She knew the mercy of God. She knew the friend of sinners forgives. She knew He would rescue her from her wretched life. She knew His love ran so deep He would one day send His Son to pay her sin debt.

God’s Son and Rahab’s Great, Great… Great GrandSon. That’s right Rahab the harlot falls in the lineage of Jesus Christ. Jesus isn’t ashamed to tell the world about His great grandma, Rahab, the prostitute who became a proselyte.

Friends, Rahab had the Cinderella ending. She married a Jew, Salmon, and they had a son, Boaz. One day, he would marry another Gentile lady, Ruth.

Your world may be scattered in broken pieces. You are never too far gone that God cannot save you. Never too sinful that He cannot forgive. Rahab had the scarlet cord. You have the blood of Jesus. Christ will rescue you from the ruins of your life.

Has your world crumbled? Should you pick up the pieces, or move forward like Rahab?

Lord Jesus, we thank You that Your love is unconditional. That You feel no shame for the lives we walked as children of wrath. Thank You for reminding us that You truly forgive and forget. Amen.

© 2018 by Carolyn Dale Newell.  All rights reserved.

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