Who Would Have Guessed They'd Have Anything in Common with Rahab?

There are people in the Bible who I have been able to connect with; many that I could see myself reflected in their stories, their fears, their failures, and even the way God moved in their lives. One person I never thought I had all that much in common with is Rahab. Yesterday, I realized that I do have something in common with her; I think most of us do.

Rahab had an unrealistic faith in a God she had only heard stories about. She was the only one in the whole city of Jericho who believed in this God and that He was all powerful. She asked to be saved from the impending doom that was coming; from the complete destruction of her people. She hung a scarlet cord out her wall-dwelling window and waited. Waited for the Israelites to cross over the Jordan, on dry land. Waited as they marched around the city over a seven day span. Waited as the walls began to creak, shift, and crack. Waited while fear spread throughout the city. Waited while walls crumbled around her home. Waited while the Israelites spread out through the city to capture it. Waited until they came and saved her and her family from all the death and destruction around them.

I never really thought about her waiting before. I never thought about the worry and fear that she must have felt. I never thought about how her rational mind must have fought with the deep knowing of her heart that the God of the Israelites was the One True God. I never considered how it felt to live in the midst of Jericho falling. I honestly never thought about it at all. Somehow in my mind I saw it all as the Sunday School lesson: she hid the spies, she helped them escape, the Israelites walked around Jericho, the walls fell, and she and her family were saved. Neat and tidy. No fear. No worry. No massive crumbling stones. No death screams. No need to escape through a battle.

I may never face a real life situation anything close to hers, but spiritually, that's a different story. Take any step of significant faith and a battle will begin. The battle within between my rational thoughts and a deep heart believing faith in His Promises. The battle to believe when others won't. The battle of hearing satan's lies and trying to ignore them and shut them out. The battle to take doubt and fear thoughts captive. The battle of waiting and waiting and waiting. The battle to wait and see how God will win.

I realized that I am a lot more like Rahab than I would have ever thought. I hope that my faith is like hers. She might have had doubts, I don't know how she couldn't, but she stayed inside her home and believed even as the unthinkable raged around her. I want to believe what my mind can't fathom. I want to hang out my faith cord and stay firmly standing in the place He has me in while I wait. I want to come out of the battle, free and seeing the familiar around me as more than just my home, but as my Promised Land. I want to be more like Rahab and be a woman who believes in God above all else.

There Is No Real Instant Miracle

Bare with me and read the whole post before you assume you know what I am stating!

Instant miracles. I believe in them and I don't. I believe in them because scripture has them recorded and I have known people who experienced them. But I do not believe they are truly instant miracles. Why not?

The woman who had a bleeding disorder for 12 years sought help from doctors for years.The Bible doesn't give a back story of those 12 years, except to mention the doctors who could not heal her. Being a woman I can imagine how truly awful this experience was for her. I can imagine her desperation as she hoped one of the doctors would finally be able to heal her. I can imagine the devastation each time he said he couldn't help her. Each day that passed brought her to all sorts of places in her heart and mind. She was unclean by law and she could have no husband. A Jewish woman was only of value based her marriage and the sons she had. This woman had no value in her world and she experienced the agony of her disease as well.

Luke 8:44 says her bleeding stopped immediately when she touched Jesus garment. There! There is the proof that there are instant miracles. But this woman was being prepared for 12 years to receive this miracle. She had already tried all the conventional ways to be healed. She longed for relief. She longed to be clean. She longed to be accepted by her culture. There is no way that over those 12 years her heart and mind didn't change. 

I wonder if she had been a proud woman at one time. Maybe she had been considered extremely beautiful. She had money to pay for the doctors so she may have come from a family of means, but she didn't have anymore money. Verse 43 says that she had spent it all on those doctors. She could not possibly be the same woman she was before her bleeding had begun. Now, she was ready. Now she was at a place in her life where she hid herself, low to the ground so she could touch the hem of Jesus' garment. 

He didn't see her. The disciples mention the throng of people and wondered how He could say "someone touched me". Verse 47 states that she realized that she was not hid so she came out trembling and fell before Him. She told Him why she touched Him and that she was healed immediately. He responds that her faith has made her whole. 

Faith isn't instant. Faith develops over time. Faith is made from experience. If Jesus had come through her town when she was a month or two into her infliction she have ignored Him and kept visiting her doctor. She would have not been ready to received her healing from Him. She wouldn't have been desperate enough. 12 years in thought she was desperate. Doctors failed her. He money was gone. She was afraid, alone, and had come to a place where she believed the only answer was was Jesus. At the moment she got to that point she was willing to humble herself, get down on the ground, reach out from hiding, and touch His garment. 

Her immediate healing took her 12 years to get to. 

We are all in a process. No matter what our issue, our wound, our despair is we have to get to the point of being ready to receive that instant miracle. It looks different for each of us. It may be shorter for some and excruciatingly long for others. Her 12 years look like a drop in the bucket for the man who had been blind since birth that was healed. We don't know how old he was but he probably wasn't anywhere near the age of Abraham when he finally saw the miracle of Issac's birth. 

Is very easy for me to say, "why isn't he better yet? Why isn't she over it yet? Why is he not healed yet? Why hasn't her faith made her whole? Why am I still waiting to see the promise of the Lord in my life?" It is just as easy for others to do the same. But none of us knows the moment that we will have finally gotten the right measure of faith to receive our instant miracle. 

I have learned over the last year, in particular, that I need to shut my mouth. I need to stop wondering and critiquing others' journeys. I believe that some of my experiences over these last eleven months, or so, have been to show me that I need to not judge anyone's journey to that level of faith that brings with it Jesus' words, "daughter (or son), be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace." and instant healing. I don't know what God still needs to do in them to get them to that place. Frankly, I don't know what He still needs to do to me to get me to that place. But as my faith grows, I know that I will get there and that others will too. 

witnessestohope.org

My Favorite Person in the Bible

Her story is brief yet found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It is a bit longer in the Mark and Luke versions, but I love the Matthew version because of its simplicity.

"And Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples. And behold, a woman who suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, "If I only touch his garment, I will be made well." Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well." And instantly the woman was made well." Matthew 9:19-22

Why? Because, oh my, there are so many reasons, where do I start. Seriously, I don't know where to start. I love her for so many reasons. I could write and write about her and have even toyed with the idea, a few years ago, about writing a book about her. I still might.

Okay, for this post I am just going to focus on how the fact that she only thought that if she just touched Him she would be made healed. Think about it while people are following Him and calling after Him and begging Him to touch them, she thinks if she just touches Him she'll be made whole. Do you see the difference?

She know He was the One. The only One who could heal her or anyone for that matter. Why does she think this? I can't be totally sure, but I think it is because she believes He is the Messiah, the Son of God. I mean who else but the Son of God could heal her by her touching Him. Wait, not even Him. She knew that just touch His clothing could heal her. That is faith, in my opinion, arguably the best example of complete faith in the whole Bible.

She didn't beg Him. She didn't get in His face so He could see her. She didn't invite Him to come to her, by the way He was on the way to heal someone else's daughter. She didn't need one-on-one time with Him. She didn't seek an audience or schedule a faith heaing session. She demanded nothing of Him. She just knew that she would be healed by touching Him.

This is just one of the many reasons why I love her. That kind of faith is the kind I would like to have!

Afraid of My Dreams

"Your dream, your true passion, is found just outside the boundary of your comfort zone." Les Parrott

I saw this on Facebook today, and along with a number of posts, comments, and such it seems to fit what I have been seeing a lot over the last few days, maybe weeks.

Lately, I have been thinking, rethinking the whole idea of leaving teaching. I mean in the natural it makes no sense to leave a job that I have some stability in and I think I am kind-a good at. So the scared part of me does not want to take the chance of leaving. My rational side says, "this is not the right thing to do, not the right time." But I don't want to listen to the scared side or the rational side. I want to walk by faith.

The Bible doesn't guarantee that walking by faith will be easy. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1. I guess if I could see it then it wouldn't be faith, would it? It's easy to believe something that is seen. But that doesn't take faith.

So, I need to listen to what God is speaking to me. I pray for direction. I ask for some understanding of what it might be He wants me to do. He may ask me to keep teaching, I am not saying He won't. But I really believe He is asking me to follow my dreams. (My big dream He will have to move mountains, because right now that's all I see.) I have things that I have always wanted to do and some new passions that have developed of late. I don't want to look at the negatives and what ifs of stepping out into something new.

Honestly, I am afraid of my dreams. I am afraid of failing. I am afraid that I will step out into something that isn't from God. I've done that before, haven't we all. I wish that I wasn't afraid. I want to trade my fear for faith. I want to walk by faith. 

Faith for Miracles

I've been reading Matthew for the last few days and have been thinking about the miracles that Jesus performed. Three of the miracles stuck out to me. There are similarities in them, and things that really stuck out to me that were different.

The first miracle takes place in Matthew 8. Jesus enters Capernaum and a Roman captain comes up to him. Let me stop right there and point out that the Roman came to the Jew. Rome conquered Israel and Jews hated Romans. This Roman captain comes to Jesus and asks Him to heal his servant. Jesus offers to come heal the servant. The Roman tells Jesus that he needs to just say the word and he knows the servant will be healed. Jesus says that He has yet to come across such trust in Israel. He mentions that he is the beginning of many outsiders who become part of God's kingdom. Then Jesus tells the Roman to go and that his servant it healed. Then Jesus continues on.

The next one is about the Canaanite woman who comes to Jesus (Matthew 15) and asks him to drive an evil spirit out of her daughter. He tells her He is too busy dealing with the lost sheep of Israel. Um, wait a few chapters earlier He makes no comment about not helping Romans, as a matter of fact He says he was one of the first of many outsiders to come. Isn't this Canaanite an outsider? Yes, there is a long history with Canaanites but it struck me as strange. She goes on and says even the dogs eat the crumbs from the master's table. Jesus in so moved by her faith that he tells her that her daughter is healed. Then He just continues on his way.

The last one takes place in Matthew 9 and it involves a local official. The official comes to Jesus and says that his daughter is dead and that if He just touches her then she will live. Jesus got up and went with him. Before he gets there another miracle takes place when the woman with the bleeding touches Jesus and is healed. Jesus gets there and tells the mourners that she is just sleeping. He then goes in, takes her hand, and she is alive.

The similarities are that in each of these miracles someone came and asked for a healing for someone else. The Roman came and asked for his servant to be healed. The other two came and asked for their daughters to be healed. Of course, all three people were healed. All three people should faith that Jesus could do it.

The differences are what stick out to me. In both the Roman and the Canaanite they did not ask for Jesus to come with them. The Roman made a point of telling Jesus that He just needed to say the word and the servant would be healed. The Canaanite woman didn't make any conditions. She didn't ask for Him to come, to touch, to say a word. She just begged Him to help. The only one who asked for Jesus to come was the official, who I assume was a Jew since they were in Israel.

Okay, I hope I word this right because I think it is significant in this day and age. The outsiders did not need Jesus to come and touch. In both cases He simply spoke and they were healed. In both cases He emphasized their faith. Jesus came for the Jews, He said so to the Canaanite woman, and the Jew was the only one who asked Jesus to come and heal his daughter. He was the only one who needed Jesus to come. His faith was not as strong and he was an insider.

What does this mean for now? I think it means a lot about faith and a lot about Christians. Who had more faith in these miracles? The outsiders. Is that still true today? Not in all cases, but I think it might. Those who are not Christians do not expect God to come to them. They don't think they deserve Him or His touch, yet they still believe in Him. They believe He can heal. They've heard the stories, even read them for themselves, and they believe. Wen they need a miracle they do call out to Him and those who have faith like the Roman ans Canaanite call knowing He can heal. They know that He just has to say the word. Their faith is based on not seeing and on still being an outsider. Hopefully, they will go from outsider to insider, miracle or not.

Christians have faith too. They must or there is no way they could have accepted His forgiveness. They must have faith to believe that they are forgive and Christ is in their hearts. Yet, so often we, myself included, need to see His hand touch. We have the faith that He can put we still have to see it. We even pray for His touch. This isn't a bad thing, His touch is more amazing than words can even express. It's not about His touch. It is about our need to see His touch. Why don't we have as much faith as an outsider? A faith that knows we don't deserve it but we know He can heal, touch or not. Why don't we just ask Him to say the word? I know there have been times that I have prayed for Him to just speak into a situation or into my heart, but most of the time I pray for Him to touch the situation or touch my heart.

I want the best of both of these types of miracles. I want the faith that the two outsiders had and it just take the words of Jesus. I also love the fact that I am an insider, I have accepted Him into my heart, and that I have the ability to go to Jesus and know that He will come and He will touch.

Climb into the Chariot

"Later God's angel spoke to Philip: "At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza." He got up and went....The Spirit told Philip, "Climb into the chariot." Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, "Do you understand what you're reading". He answered, "How can I without some help?" and he invited Philip into the chariot with him" Acts 8:26, 29-31

I read these verses yesterday and God spoke to me through it. It is short passage but the message was powerful for me. God tells Philip to go to a desolate road. He never gives a reason. He doesn't give any more details. He just says, "go". He gives Philip a time, noon, and a how, walk, but no why, no what for. Philip does it. There is no verse that says that Philip said, "why?" He just does. I admire his faith, but it gets better.

Then He tells Philip to climb into the chariot. Now, that line seems strange to me. I mean the first one had some details, when and how. He was told to walk over to a desolate road and he is told when to walk there, but in this verse he is just told to climb into the chariot. I would be thinking, "how? How am I going to just climb into some person's chariot, some person's I don't even know?" Then of course there is the slight issue that the chariot is in motion. I don't know how fast it was going, but fast enough that Philip had to run. So Philip, with no more direction than just "climb into the chariot", sets out for a run, asks the eunuch a question, and gets invited into the chariot. Now to me that shows faith!

God started this with a little more detailed instruction. Then when Philip is obedient and does it, God gives him another instruction with very little detail and one that seems difficult to accomplish. But Philip is obedient and acts out of faith. I love that Philip runs along side the chariot. He doesn't stand there and think, "I wonder how I can get the chariot to stop so I can climb in." He just starts running!

How many times has God asked me to do something and given my enough details that I can accomplish the task easily enough? I am sure plenty of times. Then when I act in obedience He gives me another instruction, this time with very little instruction. My answer often is, "how? How am I supposed to do that?" I start questioning and doubting. I start playing scenarios in my head. I usually end up not doing it, not "climbing into the chariot".

But God calls us to do so much without any real clear details and I want to grow enough in my faith that next time He asks I do it, I not only do it but I run. And I want to grow more so the next time, and the time after that, and the time after, and so on, I just do it.

I have this crazy, I think it's crazy, dream swirling in my mind. It is crazy because I am not equipped and I am not qualified and I'm not even sure I want to be, but it is there and it excites me anyway. I know that it isn't my "noon time" yet, but I believe He is asking me to walk into a place, maybe even a desolate one. I don't know how soon or anything else really, but I believe He is preparing me for it.

Philip didn't just wake up one day full of enough faith to run next to chariots. God prepared him to do it. I believe that I am in such a preparation place. I know, with a peace that I don't understand, that I am in that place. And I am looking forward to the instruction that tells me to "go" and I hope that I have enough faith to climb into the chariot.

Faith?

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1 ESV

"Now faithis the substanceof things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1 KJV

"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see." Hebrews 11:1 NLT

I wanted to see this verse in a few different translations. I could have listed more. My question is "do I have faith or am I being stubborn and holding on to some thing I shouldn't?". The former is the one I hope is true. But I still wonder.

I realize that when I blog about something on my mind or heart I get some peace and some answers. So this is heavy on my heart and has been for well, years now. Actually, right now I feel my spirit stirring. So what is it?

Do I have the kind of faith that keeps believing even when everyone else has given up on it? Do I really believe something that is, well quite frankly, seemingly impossible? Do I really believe?

Or am I holding on to something that isn't suppose to be? Am I stubbornly holding onto something that God has taken away from me? Am I just being dilusional and stubborn?

Sometimes I am so sure it is faith and that I believe that God is in the process of performing a miracle. Sometimes I think I am just being a spoiled brat who wants her way and is holding on for dear life.

I'm not sure if I'll get answers or even if I have written what God is really stirring within me. I do think if I haven't He'll keep stirring me until I do.