You don’t hear the word gumption used very often. I like the sound of it. It makes me think of courage. It involves wisdom, discernment, spirit, ability, and judgment, among other things. It also requires good old-fashioned get-up-and go! When gumption is utilized in a godly way, I call it glorious. Join me this week as we look as some women who displayed glorious gumption in their lives and understand how we can do something similar!
Rahab
Rahab had hidden the two men, but she replied, “Yes, the men were here earlier… If you hurry, you can probably catch up with them.” (Actually, she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them beneath bundles of flax she had laid out.)
Joshua 2:4-6, NLT
Think back to when you first trusted the Lord. How did other Christians treat you? Did they say you were a bit messy or carried a lot of baggage? How did your unsaved friends treat you? Did they ask you what you thought you were doing? Did you suddenly stop committing every sin you’d been engaged in prior to following Christ? I know I didn’t. Spiritual growth is a process, and we need others to help teach us how to trust in and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to make the necessary changes in our lives.
I remember feeling quite uncomfortable making the change from my old life to the new one. Familiar people, places, habits, and practices would all shift for me as I stepped out in faith to follow God. I had a lot of fear but I wanted to make the change. I took the risk.
Read today’s Dose verse. The two men spoken of were spies from the Israelite camp sent to check out land near Jericho, across the Jordan River. (Joshua 2:1)
Rahab was a prostitute in the city of Jericho who hid the spies and misled the king’s men concerning their whereabouts. The spies taught Rahab about trust. She took a great risk by helping them. She knew little of God but chose to trust Him. As a prostitute, she could easily have been considered one who was a bit messy and came with a lot of baggage. However, she made a wise choice when she aligned herself with the God of Israel through helping and hiding the spies in the best way she knew how.
After the fall of Jericho, she went with the Israelites. It must have been scary for Rahab to change from her familiar lifestyle to one that was completely different and that she likely didn’t fully understand. But she did it. Rahab showed courage by changing from the familiar protection and popularity of the life she once knew and took the risk of pursuing the true God, of whom she knew little. She allowed herself to move faithfully into the unknown. This was Rahab’s glorious gumption!
Choosing a godly lifestyle over our familiar lifestyle of sin brings fear. At all times it requires courage to bring about changes in our lives, particularly when those changes lead us into the unknown, as they did with Rahab. Are you risking the unknown for a life with the true God or staying comfortable in the life of your familiar sin?
Glorious gumption through risk,
Rita
[Read Joshua Chapter 2 for more of this story]