Canaanite prostitute. Immoral. Scum of the earth in many people’s eyes. That was Rahab in short.
But one faith decision and her destiny was changed forever. We all know about this woman of faith who is mentioned in the ‘Faith Chapter’ in the book of Hebrews.
Choices. That’s what determines our course in life. Rahab had a choice and she chose the right option. Similarly each one of us has been given the freedom to exercise our choice in various matters, finance being one of them. Sometimes bad choices can cause you to get into the debt trap.
While Rahab’s life is obviously not a passage on finances, we can draw parallels to her life with respect to making the right choices and here are five pick up points to help avoid the debt trap:
1. Choose to admit your mistake and take corrective action
Here was Rahab, a prostitute living in the prominent city of Jericho that was lost in idolatry. But one day somehow she heard about the living God and lost no time in admitting her fears and anxieties to the spies who worshipped Jehovah. We know from her conversation that the entire city of Jericho was trembling with fear, but they didn’t repent of their sins and were disobedient ( Hebrews 11:31). Rahab chose to believe God and she and her entire household were saved.
The moment you realise your mistake, the battle is half won. Debt is not a part of God’s plan for your life. If you are in a debt trap, it’s because of wrong choices you have made before and you need to make the right choices now to come out of it. If this means curbing your unnecessary expenses, cancelling your credit card or reducing your mobile bill, so be it.
2. Choose to think beyond your self
I like the fact that Rahab was planning not only her safety, but the safety of her father, mother, brothers, sisters and all who belonged to them! (Joshua 2:13). Next time you are prompted to go into debt, think of how that decision will impact your family in the long term. Will it bless them? Will it put them under unnecessary pressure and worry? Take action accordingly.
3. Choose to act immediately and not when disaster strikes
From Joshua 2:21 we know that as soon as the spies left Rahab’s house, she tied the scarlet cord on her window. Now if you try and calculate, there were a minimum of 12 days before Israel would encircle Jericho and the walls would actually fall. Rahab had no idea of how or when her city would be attacked but look at her boldness – she hung the red cord as soon as the spies left (and I don’t think that would be a small piece of cloth!)
Again I don’t know how she was able to convince her family members, but I am sure she would have gathered them in her house from that moment itself. Rahab did not wait for disaster to strike, she took immediate steps. Don’t wait for another day to start clearing your debts, do it right away. Trust God to give you the resources and wisdom to do it.
4. Choose to be held accountable
Rahab held herself accountable to the two spies for her future actions and so did the two spies. If you are serious about your decision to be debt free, a good way to go about it is by holding yourself accountable to wise and God-fearing friends, family members or members of your church. Involve them when you are weighing up the pros and cons of taking a personal loan. In humility seek their advice in your debt repayment planning. Trust me it will save you much future trouble.
5. Choose to walk the faith path
In the eyes of the world, Rahab took a lot of undue risk. Risk by lying to the authorities. Risk by trusting blindly the words of the spies. Risk by hanging the long red cord out of her window. Risk by putting her hopes in the God of the Israelites. But these so called ‘risks’ created room for faith.
Rahab made a conscious decision to act in faith on what she heard about God and that changed her destiny forever. In your situation, is God asking you to take a step of faith? Does it sound like a risk? Put your childlike faith in Him and He will lift you up from your mess.