December 14 – Icon: Red Cord, Rahab’s story.

Sorry for the absence, although I did say these posts would be irregular. I had my staff Christmas lunch yesterday. It was fun, the food was good, and the company was great. We laughed, we danced a little, I won a gift basket and a game! But I was not the founder of the feast, just a grateful recipient. Others carried the weight of preparing, paying for and hosting it. Those extra tasks, especially across multiple events in this season, can be weighty. But we all have regular tasks too, caring for families, and extended families, juggling the rising cost of living, housing uncertainty… Our daily pressures come in so many shapes and sizes, sometimes we’d just like to raise the flag, say I give up, put someone else in charge for a change.

Rehab’s story is embedded in the conquest of Jericho, Joshua’s first challenge after the death of Moses. Rahab was a prostitute who had a house on the wall of Jericho. The two spies that Joshua sent to do reconnaissance, stayed with her there, and when the city guards came looking, she hid them. Why? Because she’d heard and believed the rumours about the god they served, how he had saved them from slavery, and opened up the sea before them. She judged that a god that strong could maybe help her too. But not just her alone, because Rahab loved her family. Listen to what she said to those spies:

Sometimes we cry out — “Where are you God?” when we should be saying boldly, “Here I am! I need rescue; I need help. I’ve tried doing this on my own, but I’ve heard you can do better.” like Rahab did. And God did do better for Rahab. A man named Salmon married her and she had a son named Boaz. And her name is included in the lineage of Jesus in Matthew 1:5. When I start feeling lost, forgetten, and pressed down by life, I start my prayer this way: “Here I am, God…”