Rahab the Harlot and Easter Faith: Day 5

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 

This is what the ancients were commended for.

Hebrews 11:1

Every day you will meet two kinds of people. Scripture calls the first kind the “natural man,” the second, the “spiritual man.” At first, you may not be able to tell much difference. Both work hard, love their families and enjoy being with their friends. But the natural person has no interest in spiritual things; to him they are foolishness (1Cor. 2:14). Their hope is the cross-your-fingers, hold-a-positive-thought kind and their faith is confidence that events will ultimately take a good turn. Eternity, let alone, eternal things are simply not part of life’s equation.

The second, the spiritual person, somehow discerns that actions and choices have consequences beyond what can be seen; that there is a dimension to life that is greater than our understanding and beyond our control. And, in a way that is a mystery to some and foolishness to others, the spiritual person has placed their ultimate trust in that reality. Rahab said it well: …for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below (Joshua 2:11).

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and sin entered the world, there were terrible consequences that we live with today. One of them was the separation of the temporal and the eternal. Before the Fall, Adam and Eve—for how long a period of time we don’t know—walked with God in unbroken friendship. The eternal and unseen Creator enjoyed perfect fellowship with His creation. (I think it was the highlight of everybody’s day.)

Although sin has broken that perfect bond, it is still what God desires. In Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, we were given the power to turn from the old ways of the natural man to a new way of life in which we learn to keep step with the Spirit of God. Like Rahab, we will have surprises, challenges and a learning curve that will likely not smooth out this side of heaven.

When God’s true promises and good ways--set against the backdrop, not of a few years, but of all eternity—become the bedrock on which we build our hope and our faith. Then we can begin to learn what it really means to rest, to trust, to pray and to hope in God.

Nancy Shirah