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Glorious Gumption: Rahab

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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

Thursday_Day_Four_Pic-Make_a_Change_SignThink 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]

Glorious Gumption: Hannah

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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!

 

Hannah

 

And she made this vow: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut. 

1 Samuel 1:11 NLT

Wednesday_Day_Three_Pic-HandsHannah desperately wanted to be a mother, but she had no children for many years. She’d been picked on and looked down on all this time by another wife who had children (Peninnah). Hannah became sad and depressed over her infertility and cried often because of it. Although her husband loved her more than his other wife, and brought her extra portions of food, he didn’t understand her anguish. We read his words in 1 Samuel 1:8, “…Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” (1 Samuel 1:1-10).  He might ‘ve meant well but he definitely didn’t get it. He sounded like his focus was really on himself!

Read today’s Dose verse. Hannah looked to God for control of her situation. She conceded her helplessness and confessed her need of God’s power to end her anguish. She faithfully laid her infertility before God and made a conscience commitment to God to relinquish to His service the son He might bless her with. She even planned a sign (his hair would not be cut) to show the Lord her sincerity. Hannah wasn’t making some shallow faithless wish or some spontaneous bargain with God, as we do sometimes. God doesn’t bargain with us.

Can you even imagine how hard it would be to have gone all those years barren and then upon being blessed with a child, surrendering him back to the Lord? Sacrifice and release of control is not my strong suit, nor that of many people I know. Our tendency is to hold on tightly to virtually everything we have.  Hannah showed a tremendous amount of sacrifice, commitment, and faith. This was Hannah’s glorious gumption! God granted her plea and she was faithful to loyally honor her commitment.

Sometimes the realization of our utter lack of control is just what is needed to turn us to the only One truly in control: God. God calls us to hold the earthly things He gives us loosely because He is the giver and taker of them all, including our children. When we understand and accept that without God’s intervention, we’re powerless to extinguish our anguish, sufferings, and unmet needs, we can learn to surrender control and fully rely on God.

Are you hanging onto control today? Why don’t you surrender your control for the Lord’s?

Glorious gumption through surrendering control,

Rita

[Read 1 Samuel Chaps 1 & 2 for more of this story]

Glorious Gumption: Deborah

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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!

 

Deborah

Barak told her, “I will go, but only if you go with me.”

“Very well,” she replied, “I will go with you. But you will receive no honor in this venture, for the Lord’s victory over Sisera will be at the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.  

Judges 4:8-9, NLT

Tuesday_Day_Two_Pic-Trust_God_SignWhen was the last time God told you to do something and you got someone else to do it for you? As believers, the Holy Spirit prompts us to obey the Lord, but we sometimes ignore His commands. It doesn’t have to be anything over the top, either. It could be something as simple as a prompting to go to someone and share your story of what the Lord has done in your life.  “Oh, that’s too hard, Lord. I would but I’m too nervous to go by myself.” We ignore the prompting.

Other times, we may half obey Him by modifying his command. We grab our best godly girlfriend and tell her something like, “Hey girl, I know how you love to share your testimony with others. Come see so-and-so with me. God’s got something for us to tell her.” We’ve just put our trust in someone else ahead of putting it in God. Is half obedience really obedience at all?

It’s not like God’s going to crumble and say His plan is ruined because we disobeyed Him. When we fail to obey God’s commands, He still accomplishes His plan, often with someone else who’s willing to obey. They get a blessing and we miss out. God still gets His glory.

This was the case for the people in today’s Dose verses. Read them.  God told the prophetess Deborah to pass on His command to Barak to call out warriors and go to an appointed place for war.  God even gave her instructions for Barak explaining what He (God) was going to do to give Barak the victory over the enemy (Judges 4:4-7). Barak chose to let Deborah lead, over God.

Deborah, however, rose to the challenge and was utilized to take part in the military campaign to overthrow the Canaanite tormentors. She put her faith squarely in the hands of God and acted without hesitation. Her trust was in God to protect and direct her. What glorious gumption this took!

God used Deborah to accomplish His task because of her wealth of faith and Barak’s lack of faith.

Sometimes we trust in people over God. We have the possibility of leading others to the Lord with our testimonies of how God is working in our lives, but when we don’t show the faith and courage to lead, God may decide not to use us.

Are you trusting in people over the Lord today?

Glorious gumption through trust in God,

Rita

[Read Judges 4 & 5 for more of this story]