Rahab: From Harlot to Heroine

Joshua 2:1

¹ Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

Imagine a lady waking up one day needing some extra cash and having no way of getting it. There’s no food in the fridge, she has bills to pay, she has a job, but it doesn’t pay nearly enough for her costs and each breathe she takes is accompanied with the worry and the realization that she might not make it through another day. Getting an extra job is just a bandage on a situation that is getting worse, considering that because of her lack of education or networking skills she’ll most likely be stuck flipping burgers or asking some shopper at the super market if they are paying cash or credit. Or imagine for a minute she has been told from the time she was young that the only way for her to get out of the poverty is finding some guy with big pockets to pay for her needs. Having the idea entrenched in her psyche that her brains aren’t good enough to make it through, but rather low cut shorts and revealing outfits are an easier an more lucrative ticket out of a situation i.e. Prostitution

Rarely do we consider what a prostitute feels as she is being solicited by men, and or women, or what they feel as the encounters begins. Even more truthful is the fact that we don’t consider what a prostitutes feels when he or she is in the middle of a sexual act and how they feel at the end of it all when they are paid for their "services," and are dispatched into the night, as they prepare to do it again and again. This is a day in a life of a prostitute.  Jesus is the only one who is able to turn such lives around.

The book of Joshua introduces us to one of the most amazing and thought provoking women of the Old Testament. Rahab, the prostitute earned unique praise for her faith, and a place in the lineage of Christ. Certainly the faith this one woman revealed demonstrates the potential we all have; yet she also reminds us to not judge--how many of us would expect a great act of faith from a hooker? How many of us would not only have walked by her house, but crossed to the other-side of the street so as not to be contaminated. Yet, God blessed this woman by putting her in the lineage of Christ. It’s not how you start but how you finish that matters. God can use anyone irrespective of their past life.

Jabez's Mother

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 Jabez was more honourable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain." Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.

Imagine the little Jabez (One who brings sorrow) playing around the house, happy and minding his own business. He is unaware of the pain that his mother is going through. Every time she looks at Jabez, she is reminded of the pain she had to go through for him to be born. What type of pain could Jabez had caused his mother at birth. Was he conceived as a result of rape or sexual assault?  Was the mother rejected by a boyfriend when he realised she was pregnant. Was the child fathered by a married man who when she fell pregnant, advised her to abort the child?

Now here she is all by herself trying to raise this child, no emotional, financial support from the child’s father. She could have opted to abort the child or to give the child away for adoption.  Today’s society is full of such women; rejection is the order of the day.

The answer to these women’s problem is found when we examine the way Jesus treated every woman He met. Instead of pigeonholing women the way society had, He looked at each woman as unique. No one ever heard Jesus trivialize one of their problems by calling it a” woman-thing.” He didn’t smooth-talk women, or flatters them to get their attention. And He didn’t tell them what they wanted to hear—He told them what they needed to know.

What’s more, He did not believe what many of the women thought about themselves, because so often their own view had been grossly distorted by others. What Jesus did was to focus His attention on each woman’s greatest need, and then He met that need—in ways they never expected. Jesus taught women to look beyond their outward appearance for acceptance. He showed them they were valuable when others said they were worthless. He challenged the rules that bound them and broke down the walls of prejudice that entrapped them.

Even when a woman was labelled a “failure,” He believed she could be more than her broken past. Most importantly, Jesus gave unconditional love to every woman no matter what her past history, present condition, or future prospects. He was a Man ahead of His time, a Renaissance Man who understood what loving a woman all was about. This is why the women stayed with Him. And the longer they stayed, the more they grew to love Him and to love themselves.

When you are accepted just the way you are, encouraged to reach your potential, and empowered to follow your dreams, don’t you feel loved? If you long for a love that restores your self-worth…gives you purpose…fills you to overflowing…and never lets you go, then I invite you to come meet The Man Who Loves Women - Jesus

The Woman at the Well

She could have been anyone’s sister, someone’s daughter. Growing up as a little girl she had big dreams and aspirations. She dreamed of becoming significant and imagined herself as history maker and a world changer. She might have been raised by loving parents,  or may have  been raised in a dysfunctional family. One thing that stood out was that she had big dreams. It was until the first man came into her life and all hell broke loose. He promised her things that he could not fulfill, he took what was precious to her,  he took her innocence away and left her broken. She would never be the same again, then was a vicious cycle of moving from one relationship to another. The emptiness grew inside her and at some point she had quite a number of men in her life. Some single and some married.

As the frustration grew and her dreams shattered, not knowing where to turn, she opted for a life of playing men. One day as she went to the well to fetch water, minding her own business and planning to mess at least one man for the day. She met a man who looked like an ordinary man she had encountered before. This could be her pawn for the day. But this was no ordinary man, His name was Jesus.

John 4 has a story of such a woman - the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well. She was broken and had no hope, but this time around she met a man who could mend her brokenness and He surely did. After the encounter she left the well whole, healed and ready to dream again. Jesus loves broken women.

This story does not only apply to single women ; it can also apply to a married woman who is unable to deal with hurts and disappointments from past relationships. Please know that Jesus is still the same today as He was yesterday. He is standing with open arms to welcome the broken and He is willing to Heal, Restore and Renew.