I’m sitting here by a crackling fire with 6 inches of snow on the ground tonight, and God’s word is just soaking into my head.  I’m reading through the book of Joshua.  I love this book… Joshua takes over for Moses (arguably the greatest leader in all of Israel’s history) and he gets the task of doing what Moses couldn’t.  No pressure Joshua!  Sometimes I just feel a ounce of what Joshua must have felt.  I feel so very inadequate… so overwhelmed by both the importance and difficulty of the task ahead.  And tonight… God leads me to the story of Rahab the prostitute found in Joshua 2:1-21.  The story of the spies encounter with Rahab is always  a fascinating one to me.  You wonder sometimes why God chose to reveal certain aspects of this huge story.  But He chose to tell us about this encounter with Rahab.  There are several things that jump out at me as I read over the first part of this story.  First, who God decided to use for His purposes.  He chose Rahab… a prostitute.  Did God approve of her profession?  Of course not.  Was it sinful?  Of course it was!  Was she a very unlikely choice?  You better believe it!  But God sometimes chooses prostitutes to carry out His purposes… He often picks the least likely of all candidates.  Now… the question is… will He use us?  Most people in the world feel like underdogs.  We feel as if our lack of ability or our past has disqualified us from any hope of being used of God for big things.  But that simply is NOT the case!  Our God is a forgiving God… He is a God of second chances… He is a God Who looks more for willingness than ability.  If God can use Rahab, He can use us… He can use little ol’ me.  I’m just a good ol’ boy from the hills of NC.  I’m a guy who has made his fair share of mistakes and have, regrettably, had moral failures throughout my life.  In short… I don’t measure up.  But as I read the bible, I begin to see that my ineptness probably makes me a likely candidate for God’s purposes!

         The second thing that jumps out at me in this story is how God had paved the way for His plan.  The Israelites would have to get off their butts, march into the land and engage the enemy… but God had already laid the groundwork for that victory.  Rahab tells the spies that their people had heard how God had led them out of Egypt and that, “our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.”  Sometimes, this is happening and we don’t even know it.  I’m sure that the Israelites had no idea that word of the Exodus from Egypt had spread to Cannan.  Maybe a victory of epic proportions is on the horizon for you and me, but we simply can’t see it happening.  Is it possible that God is laying the groundwork as we speak?  The people of Jericho were beat long before the Israelites came a marchin’!  God had paved the way… He is sovereign and His ways will prevail.  God, thank You for being a God of second chances… thank You for being a God Who uses little people.  I confess that I am nothing… and if I am something it is only because You have made me something.  Please use me for Your glory… to advance Your kingdom.  Would You pave the way for this kingdom explosion and may I follow in great confidence.