Peace Reigns in All Situations

Joshua 2

I’m not a naturally peaceful person. My family growing up was all about fighting – not in a bad way, but we had to fight for life, for health, and for others, but were never very good at peace. I was so blown away by the peace my friend had while at death’s door (he was so calm and focused on the gospel–at peace), that I began to really seek that calm steadiness of peace in my life on a much deeper level.

Peace is certainly a hard thing to choose at any given moment, but it is such a wonderful gift we’ve been given. The arrival of the Savior in the dark of that night brought peace to all, but that peace wasn’t immediately realized. It’s still not fully realized—hence why we still celebrate the advent (we are still anticipating the peace that will come when Jesus reigns as King)—though His peace is here and fully available to us who choose to live in it. The reign of the Prince of Peace is still an optional movement – people can choose whether or not to live in His peace, but the day is coming with His peace will reign all over. This leaves us with a choice: will you live in His peace today, staying steady regardless of what’s going on around you or will you keep fighting to your own self destruction? Those are the very choices Rahab experienced with the Israelite spies.

God’s Peace Keeps You Steady

Rahab wasn’t anyone special, just another individual with a shadowy past. As the conflict begins, we see her under intense pressure, yet calm and steady under the lights of interrogation. That’s what the story is saying: peace is available despite the situation. The conflict and climax of this story focuses on the confidence Rahab held in peace, leading her to hold steady in this very chaotic event. She was steady despite the chaos. Which is interesting because this story is told in a very chaotic way – not linear, but with flashbacks: 1st section focuses on the questioning by the king, the 2nd on her negotiation with the spies to keep the secret (happened chronologically before the first section), and the 3rd on the last moment before they leave when they plan out Rahab’s rescue (still before the 1st section). The point of the story isn’t just what happened to Rahab, but her steadiness and response to what was going on around her.

God’s Peace Gives You Eyes to See

Let’s take a moment and consider Rahab’s situation – her world was in utter turmoil; it was ending! Jericho was going to fall, and she knew it (v9-10). She had to choose whether she was going to go down with her sinking ship of a city or make the dangerous leap to a far better one. Peace gave her sight to decide one of the toughest decisions of her life. She made the decision to trust God when life seemed safe. Imagine with me a city planner that had that kind of foresight – they might actually plan ahead on their road construction!

God’s Peace Brings the Future to Now

This story climaxes with a beautiful proclamation of Rahab’s newfound faith. Her tying the cord in her window right after she sent away the spies shows that from the beginning, she was living in the peace that she knew would come. She made a public proclamation from the start who she sided with and with whom she belonged. The future became now. In that, she chose peace in the moment that she trusted would be her life forever. It’s a now AND not yet kind of thing: she had the peace to rest in that moment, but it wouldn’t be fulfilled until after the battle of Jericho. That’s really what this story wraps around to be about – her reactions to what’s happening around her based on her trust. This led her to peaceful confidence.

Next Steps

The action flows through this story from v2 when the king hears about the spies (which happens later) and questions her to the climax of the story in v21 which goes back to the moment the spies leave her house and she ties that cord in the window, making her choice and sealing her fate. Despite all the war and conflict going on around her, Rahab steadied herself in peace, trusting in what she believed would happen and was confident and secure throughout the crazy situation.

Rahab is the foreshadowing of the peace that is available with Jesus. It is her steadiness that led her through that turmoil and ultimately what lands her in the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1:5. God’s peace is here, you can have it today through Jesus (John 14:6), regardless of the situations around you. But you have to choose to live in that peace; sometimes on a daily basis.

1. Make a decision to trust in God for your life – choose peace, either for the first time or the first time today.
2. Keep a prayers answered journal to help you remember all God’s done.
3. Share with someone else what you’ve seen God do and challenge each other to live in His victory.

I’m not great at that steady peace lifestyle yet, but I am seeking and seeing peace more and more and beginning to live in it more often. Do you? This is the wonderful gift given to us all.