I love how God uses flawed people. How the Lord doesn’t give up on those the world labels also-rans, might-have-beens, and good-for-nothings. We see this over and over again in the stories of Bible characters. God continually chooses the smallest person, the one the world overlooks, the one that messes up big-time. He even opts to work through the person with the bad reputation.
Case in point: Rahab. You may remember her story from the book of Joshua in the Old Testament. The Israelites are about to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. Their leader, Joshua, sends some spies to check out Jericho, the first city they will need to defeat in order to possess the land. When the spies encounter danger, God uses Rahab, a “lady of the evening” to hide the spies on her roof. She realizes that these men are representatives of the Almighty God. Seeing that her city had no chance to stand against the Lord, Rahab sides with the Israelites instead of her own people. She makes up a cover story to protect the spies and then lets them out of the window of her home (conveniently located in the city wall) for a quick escape. Her quick thinking helped the Israelite nation defeat the city of Jericho.
If God planned to destroy the wicked city of Jericho, why did He save a prostitute? His grace shines out as He chooses a broken, imperfect woman to further His plan for His chosen people and the world. Rahab was a sinner, no doubt about it. She led a life that was immoral. Improper. Indecent. Most likely the majority of the citizens of Jericho shunned her. Yet God reached out—and gave her faith.
I love the lessons of grace from the life of Rahab:
Lesson One: God uses imperfect people.
If I were in God’s position, I doubt I would have chosen a prostitute to save my people. I’ll bet a city councilman or prominent merchant also had a home in the city wall and he could have used his influence to save the spies. God could have chosen to work through an “important” person.
But He chose Rahab. The Bible continues to emphasize the fact that God uses broken people when it mentions Rahab in the New Testament. Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25 both praise this Old Testament woman, yet continue to identify her as “Rahab the prostitute.” You’d think after 600 years, the poor woman could get a break from her shameful past. But I think Scripture includes her former profession as an encouragement that speaks to our own weaknesses. It tells us, “See, God loves broken people. He can take the shame and inadequacies of His baptized and forgiven daughters and turn them into spectacular triumph.”
Lesson Two: Know you may not see all the success that your faith brings about.
Rahab had a long-lasting effect on the history of Israel and the salvation of the world. Because of her help, when the Israelites defeated Jericho they purposely saved Rahab and her family. She and her family all became part of the Israelite nation. Later, Rahab married a prominent Jewish citizen and became the great-great-grandmother of King David. She is also mentioned in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus.
Rahab did see an immediate result of her faith in the saving of the Israelite spies and her own family. But I doubt she lived to see her great-great grandson become king of Israel and she would have had no clue that she would become an ancestress of the Savior of the world. We can’t always witness the successful results of a faithful life.
Perhaps you think: I’m only a stay-at-home mom to a couple of unruly boys. But consider a possible scenario. One of those boys grows up to become a teacher. His kindness leads one of the boys in his class to believe in Christ. As a teenager, this young man starts to volunteer at a soup kitchen where he befriends a drug addict who learns about the grace of God. This grace turns her life around. Years later, this former drug addict teaches a Bible study at her church where her remarkable story inspires another young woman visiting the church. She decides to join the congregation. She’s “just” a stay-at-home mom who brings her children to church every Sunday so they can learn about the life-changing Gospel. One of her sons….
We can’t know the full success God works through our frailties and flaws. We can only trust that God will work through us as we act with His gift of faith in our hearts.
When You Feel Unqualified for Success
Rahab became a key component in the success of the destruction of Jericho. Don’t you love how God used a flawed woman—one certainly unqualified for success? Her role in the defeat of Jericho demonstrates that God doesn’t wait until we’re accomplished, cleaned-up, and respectable before He can work through us. He uses us in our less-than-perfect state. Even when the world looks down on us, shuns us, or overlooks us, He allows us to be a part of His plan to bring victory to His people and glory to His name.
When you feel too damaged and deficient to matter, remember that God uses flawed people.
Success in God’s kingdom does not depend on our qualifications.
This post is adapted from my new book, Measured by Grace: How God Defines Success. If you’ve ever felt like your life is a mess or that it’s too small to make any difference, read how God defines success!
This book studies eight “failures” in the Bible–people who either made a big mess of their lives or simply didn’t look like a success in the eyes of the world. By examining their lives you’ll discover that God redeems our failures and doesn’t measure us by wealth or fame. He measures us by His grace!
You can find out more about this eight-week Bible study book and download the first chapter here.