As a person experienced in working with flax, Rahab knew that in order to
get at the strong inner fibers that can be used to produce beautiful linen
cloth, the outer layer of the stalk must be stripped away. She would have known
how to carefully hammer away the rotted outer layer to expose what was of value
underneath. Perhaps she marveled to see how the hardship of her life had been
designed, not to destroy her, but to lay bare the strong fiber in her and to
weave it into a grand and glorious design.
The traditional stain-glass window, pious picture of the contemplative saint
at prayer tells only part of the story of what it means to be faithful.
Faithfulness also means rolling up your sleeves, doing what needs to be done,
and, by God’s grace, making it an act of sacrifice to Him.
Many a saint may look pious in retrospect, but in the heat of the moment,
where action was imperative, most saints were merely gritty, ordinary human
beings doing what needed doing all the while giving thanks to God that He
entrusted them with the task.
Likewise, the vast majority of the time, you and I are not called for heroic
martyrdom, either. Instead, we are called for the sweaty work of shouldering
responsibility and doing the mundane tasks required to meet the needs of those
who depend upon us. It’s the 2 a.m. feeding when you don’t see how you can pull
yourself out of the bed. It’s the endless laundry, the meals, the committee
meetings, or the two jobs. It’s coaching little league on top of working
full-time. It’s teaching a Sunday School class on your only day off.
Further, it is a vision of these tasks as opportunities to please God!
It is true enough that Rahab had one heroic moment, but for the rest of her
life, she was a wife and the mother of Boaz. BOTH were expressions of her
faithfulness. Both stemmed from a correct understanding of who God is – which
is our starting point for understanding who we are and what we are to do and
who we are to be.
Like those ugly geodes that look like ordinary rocks until they are broken
open, sometimes it takes a blow to reveal what is on the inside. Inside the
cavity of a geode are gorgeous crystals of various glittering colors that shine
like jewels in the sunlight. A shattering blow can reveal what is inside a
person much as a shattered stone can reveal crystals or dust at its core. When
life brings a devastating or despairing situation – as it inevitably does – our
inner character will be revealed as worthless dust or a strong, shining jewel.
The women at the two churches where I recently spoke were tremendously moved
by the following poem written by my mother over 20 years ago. My mother and
father are the ones who taught me the importance of trusting God. Mother is a
beautiful, warm, gracious, generous, active and accomplished woman who looks
far younger than her age. And, more importantly, as she prayed she would, at
80-years-of-age, mother reflects Christ’s image and is full of God’s graces.
The Old Woman in My Future
Ruth Baird Shaw
Someday, somehow, somewhere in time
She’s waiting, I will see
An old woman, time is making
Time is making, out of me!
Will she be a sad complainer
A fretful tenant of the earth?
Or a kind, productive person
Filled with happiness and mirth?
Please be patient, God is making
Molding slowly, out of me
A shining portrait, He has promised.
Just you wait and see.
He is smoothing out the roughness
Polishing the dreary places
Filling life with joy and gladness
Pouring out His gifts and graces.
God remake me, in Your image.
I want to like her, when I see
That old woman, time is making.
Time is making, out of me.
