Yesterday, we wrote on "The Courage to Leave Someone Behind" and I know it really resonated with many people because of the e-mails I've already received. Outstanding! I know from your letters that a number of you have been encouraged to leave dead situations and embrace newness and life in your relationships! This is a great thing and, since you already know I am very, very PRO-RELATIONSHIPS and MARRIAGE, I felt like my work was only half done.
We can't get where we should be by only cutting off people. We can't regress to the point of isolation. We can't grow by shrinking. To have the life and love we all desire, we have to look at making additions instead of only subtractions! But whom do we add? Let's go back to the Bible for some clues.
"And the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land." But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them..." ~Joshua 2:3-4a (NASB)
"Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men, "I know that the LORD has given you the land..." ~Joshua 2:8-9a (NASB)
I am turning to the story of Rahab because she is lifted up as an example of someone who didn't even belong to the covenant of the people of God but BECAME a part of God's people because of her spirit, faith and actions. She's exalted as an example of faith in the New Testament scriptures (James 2:25 and Hebrews 11:31) more than many others whom we consider patriarchs. Her name lives forever! For our purposes, we learn that she was not only brought along as the people of God entered their promise, but she becomes a part of the very lineage of Christ Himself!
What does her story teach us about who should come along with us? A lot of exciting things!
- The person you should be with will not only believe God, but believe along with you for the promise of God on your life!
- The person you should be with will be willing to take chances in their own life to help you advance in yours!
- The person you should be with will demonstrate loyalty to you.
The person you should be with might have a checkered past, but you can ignore it if their actions show they are committed to living a new way. Ultimately, you will enter your "best and blessed" place because of them. This applies to men and women both. I am confident there is a woman who will extend herself where it isn't called for to help "that" man. I am confident there is a man who will ignore a woman's past and accept "that" woman. I am just as confident it will not only be deliverance for you, but deliverance for them, as well. Rahab's belief saved herself and her entire household...giving her a future in the face of certain death.
Those are the people you bring along: the one's who believe in the promise of God on your life.
