Dare To AskChikamu

Dare to Ask  

Rahab is where our ‘Dare to Ask’ theme really comes to fruition. We do not know a lot about Rahab’s life, how she ended up as a prostitute, or the kind of life she led, but one thing I believe we can extract from her story is that she was not happy with her status quo. She was aching for a change. I would suggest that she was looking for a way out, and when she saw the Hebrew spies, she jumped at the opportunity for a change in her circumstances.

Rahab would have heard rumors of rivers drying up, of seas parting, of clouds of Glory and pillars of fire. A God, foreign to the ones she knew, who came for His people, and followed up behind them. I believe she wanted to join herself to this people, and this God. 

So she asked. 

She dared to ask the Hebrew spies for a bargain. She made her request, and then she had to wait. As we have discussed on previous days, waiting is something that most of us have to go through at some point, and it is always what gets us ready for what is coming. 

Rahab had to trust that the spies would keep their end of the bargain. She had to wait and watch while the Israelites came closer and closer to Jericho every day. She had to watch them march silently around her city. She had to sit, wait and rest. 

The wonderful thing about Rahab is that she had the tenacity to ask for something that she should never have been able to have. She became an Israelite. She married a respected and honored warrior, and more than that, she became an ancestor to the Messiah. All because she dared to ask. 

Sometimes we have to grab the moments that come our way - they are opportunities for life to take us in a different direction. Rahab was tenacious and courageous, and fought for a change in her circumstances. She refused to see the events that were happening around her as coincidences, and she acted on an understanding that the God of these foreigners was behind it all. 

In the moment Rahab decided to help the spies, she had her eyes opened to see the opportunity for change. She was able to find her freedom and join the lineage of Messiah, along with several other surprising women, chosen by God to prepare the way for Him. What is happening in our lives today can also indicate moments for change. We may not have foreign spies knocking on our door, but our maker is beckoning us to grab each moment and see where He leads us. We just have to open our eyes, listen, and be willing to take a risk.

We have to dare to ask.