Rahab
A few months ago a friend of mine told me a story about a local ministry. A ministry that reaches out to a population I have virtually no experience with. A population that has never even been on my "radar screen." A population that seems so far removed from me that I don't even know why God would soften my heart. But God is softening my heart. He is pushing me along and giving me compassion I didn't know I had. The ministry is called Cord of Hope and it reaches out to dancers in men's clubs.
Since that brief introduction months ago, I have invited myself to be a part of this ministry. Unfortunately, I had to miss my first meeting this weekend but God has been faithfully giving me reason to think and pray about this ministry. Today I began to wonder about the name Cord of Hope and could only assume that the name came from the story of Rahab and how she hung a scarlet cord out her window during the destruction of Jerico.
So today I read Joshua 2.
This is what I noticed. See if it strikes you as significant, as it did me.
The spies told Rahab, "When we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window..." (Joshua 2:18) "Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window." (Joshua 2:21)
This is what I saw for the first time. She wasted no time! She didn't wait for trumpets or marching feet or water to heap up along the Jordan. She didn't wait to see dust clouds or the whites-of-the-Israelite's-eyes. She didn't wait for them to come into the land. She sent the spies away and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
We presume that she had no idea whether she would be waiting days or months or years. We can also presume that she had no idea exactly what to watch for anyway! But she knew that the God of Israel was "the God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath" (2:11) and she knew the hearts of the people were melting with fear because of this God. Yet she was not going to be caught unprepared. She was watching and waiting and anticipating from the moment of the spy's departure.
And this is my prayer today over Cord of Hope. That there would be someone who has been watching and waiting since your last visit. That someone would be ready for hope. That someone this month would throw out a scarlet cord and say, "He is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath."
Since that brief introduction months ago, I have invited myself to be a part of this ministry. Unfortunately, I had to miss my first meeting this weekend but God has been faithfully giving me reason to think and pray about this ministry. Today I began to wonder about the name Cord of Hope and could only assume that the name came from the story of Rahab and how she hung a scarlet cord out her window during the destruction of Jerico.
So today I read Joshua 2.
This is what I noticed. See if it strikes you as significant, as it did me.
The spies told Rahab, "When we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window..." (Joshua 2:18) "Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window." (Joshua 2:21)
This is what I saw for the first time. She wasted no time! She didn't wait for trumpets or marching feet or water to heap up along the Jordan. She didn't wait to see dust clouds or the whites-of-the-Israelite's-eyes. She didn't wait for them to come into the land. She sent the spies away and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.
We presume that she had no idea whether she would be waiting days or months or years. We can also presume that she had no idea exactly what to watch for anyway! But she knew that the God of Israel was "the God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath" (2:11) and she knew the hearts of the people were melting with fear because of this God. Yet she was not going to be caught unprepared. She was watching and waiting and anticipating from the moment of the spy's departure.
And this is my prayer today over Cord of Hope. That there would be someone who has been watching and waiting since your last visit. That someone would be ready for hope. That someone this month would throw out a scarlet cord and say, "He is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath."
Comments
stephanie@metropolitanmama.net