Guest Post by Laurel Thomas: Unexpected Gatekeepers

At the time, I didn’t know that I was a writer. I was only visiting a weekly Bible study with my mom. The ladies were sweet, the pastor compassionate.

So why did anger rise inside me with the creeping flow of volcanic heat?

My cheeks flushed and heart thumped. Strange behavior for a first-time guest, in the middle of studying a woman named Rahab from Jericho.

The author detailed Rahab’s history before receiving two Jewish spies into her care. According to him, she was a harlot steeped in debauchery, a vile idolater, and woman without God.

With each sentence, I got madder. Like a pugnacious defense attorney, I questioned facts versus assumptions against this unknown woman. Outrage rose out of me that I couldn’t explain. It was kind of embarrassing. All that heat and nowhere to go!

After all, I didn’t know Rahab. I only knew what I read in the second chapter of Joshua. That was it. No reason to defend her from profound injustice centuries later.

After hours of my own study, I discovered that the city of Jericho was steeped in victimizing women and children. They were least of the least citizens in a culture that revolved around Baal worship. Sadly, they were first on the list for child sacrifice and prostitution.

Rahab was probably a successful businessperson. Her inn was built within city walls, open to travelers from a major trade route through the desert.

One day, God showed up at her door in the form of two Israeli spies.

Despite incredible danger, she gave them a place of refuge. As she hid them under sheaves of flax on the roof, she told the men who they were and what they were doing there. She acknowledged their God as God in heaven above and earth beneath. She aligned with them, along with her whole family, trusting the mercies of a God she’d never known, but risked her life to embrace.

History’s definition doesn’t reflect what God saw in Rahab. What He knew to be true even now defies our ignorance and prejudice.

Because it was Rahab who became a gate for God’s people into a new era.
Have you ever been locked out of a place you needed to go?

My family were big supporters of my heart for creativity. My mom let me read for long hours and encouraged me toward teaching what I loved – English.

And yet, insecurity still yells, if I let it. The accuser taunts, unless I silence its voice with the reflection I see in a different mirror.

Gateway people often go unnoticed. Their wrapping may not look like successful author or creative joy-bringer. Maybe they look like a simple lady with a wounded past. Like Lazarus with stinky grave clothes, they carry resurrection life under a mess.

Rahab had extraordinary heart. She became a place of safety for His people moving forward, despite a hostile enemy bent on stopping their purpose.

She became His gate through iron-like resistance.

So, take another look in His mirror. What we see in His eyes may surprise us. No doubt, it’s better than we imagined and bigger than our history decreed. It gives us hope. It challenges but makes us happy.

Be on the lookout for those Rahabs. After all, it takes one to know one.

AND

Remember that a gift inside YOU releases open doors for others.

I’d love to hear your thoughts ~
Laurel Thomas
Write Your Heart Out!