Monday Moment: The Window

She didn't have much. But she did have a window. A window along a city wall. And with that window, she helped God's people take Jericho.

Her name was Rahab and her story is straightforward. She was, the Bible says, a prostitute. A prostitute who lived along the wall of mighty Jericho. A prostitute who, as was her custom, took in strange men at night. Only this particular night, the men she welcomed were no ordinary men. They were enemy spies. Spies sent from the camp of Israel - at the bidding of Joshua himself - to "search out the country". To do surveillance work. And she, Rahab, took them in. She didn't know it, but she and her window were about to be part of God's plan to deliver Israel.

I wonder what she thought, then, as she heard the king's men at her door. We're hearing things, they said to her. We hear you're hiding spies. Send them out.

But she was already a step ahead of them. The spies were hidden - between her ceiling and her roof. And she had a story. Yes, they were here, she said, her heart pounding in her ears. But after dark - about the time the gate closed - they left. You'd better hurry if you want to find them.

And they did. The king's men hurried away. And under the cover of darkness - using Rahab's rope - Israel's spies repelled out of her window, down the city wall, and escaped.

I love this story... the story of how Israel took Jericho. There's such drama: the spying, the near-capture, the escape, the "battle" itself. It's The Hiding Place with more twists and a happier ending. But even more than that, I adore how this story turns on the courage and obedience of one woman... just one woman. And notice that she wasn't perfect. She wasn't Beth Moore. She was just a woman who lived along a city wall and had a window.

This story from Joshua 2 encouraged me this morning. It encouraged and challenged me. It caused me to realize that, perhaps, it's not who we are but where we are that may put us in a position to be used of God. And it's not what we don't have (money, seminary training, time) that God needs, it's what we do have that God may use. It's what we have, what God's already given us, that He may require. Things like our prayers. Our kitchens. Our hugs. Our couch. Our words. Our cars. Our courage. Maybe even our windows.

It's something to think about. It's something, perhaps, we need to think about. And as we look out our windows today... however and wherever they may be ... may we remember Rahab. May we remember her and pray that we, too, will be willing when the opportunity to be obedient to God knocks on our doors.

Our doors, or our windows.

Monday Moment is a devotional to help kick-start your week. See you again next Monday!