Nailing Your Colours to the Mast
by Ruth Hawkey
I wonder how many of us (myself included) wish that we had witnessed more to our family, neighbours and friends when opportunities presented themselves. This is especially true when the opportune moments pass, and we think of all of the things which we could have said or done. It sometimes seems that we look for people`s approval rather than God`s. However, Rahab was not like that. She looked for God`s "Well done!". `It was by their faith that people of ancient times won God`s approval` (Hebrews 11:2).
As you can tell, I am so impressed with the attitude and the actions of Rahab, who, after trusting in Israel’s God to save her, chose to display a scarlet rope, hanging it from her window, because she was not going to ‘hide her light under a bushel’.
I don`t know about you, but sometimes I judge people a little harshly by outward appearances. I may look at their lifestyle, their home life, or their looks, and think that they are not up to much really. For example, it is easy to consider that Rahab was a poor example of what a woman should be like. After all, we are told she was a prostitute, and she did not even belong to the Jewish faith.
Yet Rahab can teach us a great many lessons. She was willing to take a chance on the God of the Israelites. She was willing to save the two spies, even though it could have put her own life in danger, and she was willing to nail her colours to the mast by hanging the scarlet rope out of her window.
Being a woman of faith, she quite rightly deserves her place in the role of honour in Hebrews 11. For we are told, ‘It was faith that kept the prostitute Rahab from being killed with those who disobeyed God’ (Hebrews 11:31).
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You for the encouragement which Rahab brings to me. It doesn’t matter who we are or what lifestyle we bring to the cross, You are willing to welcome us into Your kingdom. Give me the courage to stand up and be counted, and, like Rahab, nail my colours to the mast. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Ruth Hawkey has had the privilege of working alongside Ellel Ministries from the very beginning. She and her husband Joe helped to begin the work in both Glyndley Manor and Canada. She has written a number of books including Healing Emotional Wounds, Healing the Human Spirit, Generational Blessing and Generational Sin, and Praying for Children. She and her husband also helped to develop prayer ministry teams in the local church.
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