Go ahead, raise your fist!

The story of Rahab is one of those amazing redemption stories I just can't get enough of. A pagan prostitute is the many-times great grandmother of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?! Only our God could come up with something so wonderful.

It may interest you to know some scholars theorize one of the the spies was
actually Salmon, the man Rahab later married. This may or may not be true but if
it is, talk about transforming a common object as a tool for wonders! The flax
which once hid Rahab's secret lovers now covered a man who would look past all
her sin and love her unconditionally, just as Jesus Christ continues to do for
us today. The rope which once provided a means for escape for the lowlifes who
frequented her establishment now gave God-speed to the righteous men who would secure her salvation. This same scarlet rope which once symbolized Rahab's shame now represented atonement and would be the marker that saved her life as well as the lives of her family. I get chills just thinking about it!

So do I. God is so good, isn't He? And now for the fun part:

We learned about two different kinds of people -
1. 'The Fist Shakers' respond in mortal fear for their temporal bodies.
2. The Faith Takers will experience a holy fear that will transcend their bodies and cut straight to their souls.

Burning Questions

1. When is the last time you encountered a Fist Shaker? This may be a stranger
to you or as close as a loved one in your own home. Does anything in our
description help you to understand their animosity towards God? Are you able to
have more compassion towards them?

My sister is a fist shaker. It used to be one of the many things I held against her (see previous post) but now it just makes me sad. I know that she's just running scared - scared of her past, scared of her future... and I think perhaps a bit scared of looking herself in the mirror every morning.

2. Does anything about Rahab's redemption strike a nerve? This may be a question
you would like to ponder privately. Sexual sin and/or victimization can be an
area where Satan has an enormous stronghold because it can hold so many painful and shameful memories. If Rahab teaches us anything, please know God can redeem any life and any situation, no matter how heinous it seems, and plant you
unashamedly 'in the midst of Israel'. Rahab deserved death according to Mosaic
Law, however she was shown nothing but lovingkindness by the God and nation of Israel.

Yes, her redemption strikes a nerve. There are a number of things in my life that I have seen as unredeemable. Sexual sin, victimization and the consequences of both definitely top that list. For a born and bred church girl I sure have a shameful past. Not that I believed God is incapable or unwilling to redeem the dark and ugly areas of my life, but I never thought I would be able to give them over to Him. Though, to be honest, it has always been "Israel"s response to my past that worries me more than God's.

3. Is there an area of your life in which you feel you have come full circle?
Where you've come to a place where everything and nothing are the same? (I'm
thinking Lord of the Rings when Frodo goes back to the Shire after his long
adventure. You have no clue what I just said if you are not an LOTR nerd so just
ignore this if it doesn't make sense! :)

Without a doubt. I was set on my current vocational path over a decade ago, then I took a U-turn toward disaster. Now, 10 years later I'm back on the path, but everything is different. Same schools, same plans, same calling, but the person who first started on this path and the person God has led back to it are so completely different they are almost unrecognizable. I am not the person I was, and even though I made a royal mess of things, I think I am better equipped for the calling now. (Wow. Did I just write that?).

4. When you were born again, did you gain a new appreciation for your
surroundings as Rahab did when she received the Promise along with the Promised Land? Has some old place, object, or relationship been redeemed by now serving a
'high and holy purpose'?

I had a new perspective after my conversion, but the examples that come to my mind right now are more current, and a result of God putting my life back on track. I have a relationship with my step-daughter that I never imagined possible, and only because God was working to radically change my life. And...

My scars are redeemed. I have always been ashamed of my cutting scars, even though I kept adding to them. But over the last year God has turned my scars from signs of shame to symbols of His redemptive power. I look at them now and see how much God has done in my life rather than seeing proof of how badly I've screwed my life up.

5. Believers can still be Fist Shakers. Do you have circumstances in your life
in which you find yourself shaking your fist at God? Something He has asked you
to endure, asked you to do, seemingly taken away from you? Can you see how
shaking your fist is keeping you from your Promise? (I'm not talking eternal
security here - Only abundant living.)

Yes. Yes. Yes.Yes.Yes. And yes. I believe I mentioned that I am a petulant child? Thankfully, my fits of anger and complaining have dwindled down to a day or so, or sometimes even just moments. The grief over a situation still lasts quite a while, but the actual fist-shaking is brief. Thank God.