Rahab hid the two Israelite spies from the king of Jericho. In gratitude, they promised to save her and her family when they returned. They told her to stay inside her house until they returned. She did as they said and waited hopefully. She waited and waited. Finally, she saw the Israelites returning and was probably elated but they kept walking. Did they forget her? Later, she saw them again but still they kept walking. They must have forgotten her. Again and again the Israelites passed her by. Rahab may have lost hope. But then…something big happened!
Life isn’t about me getting everything I want when I want it. If that were the case, I would be my own god. Life is about me learning to mold my wants and desires around God’s much bigger plan. My wants are usually about the here and now. God’s desires are about the eternal goal of peace. I’m not here to be blessed all the time, although I always get more than I deserve.
I am called to bless and to bear fruit and to spread the gospel. It is far more blessed to give than to receive. When I press through my problems with my faith intact, I find that God was always with me. He was with me in the waiting. I usually don’t know what God is up to in advance. But He is always up to something.
I am not God and will never be exactly like Him. I need to lean into Him and His plan and not on my own understanding. Submitting to God’s will means to say, “If it is Your will, let this be, but if not, change me to fit Your plan.” For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so God’s ways are higher than my ways and God’s thoughts higher than my thoughts (Isaiah 55:9).
Often God is working on something good that I can’t see yet. I don’t have to see the blessing to know that God is working for my good. In the middle, I don’t always see, but I press on so that I might see better in the end.
We have this good and faithful promise from Jesus Himself:
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Because He is with me, giving me strength for my journey, I can trust in Him with all my heart and seek His will in all I do.