Faith is crossing the line of our fears, into the safer hands of God

Everyone in Jericho had a sense that they were going to loose a battle, that they were on the wrong side of God who had defeated other nations for Israel. Fear filled them all. But just one person stepped out of fear into faith.

By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. Heb 11:31 

Hebrews 11 salutes Rahab, a prostitute, as one of history’s heroes of faith. How did she do it? Quite simply, she saw something God was doing, and she took action with risk to step into God’s purposes. And so she received a ‘scarlet ribbon’ as a guarantee that she and her family would be rescued from destruction, a prophetic sign of the saving work of Christ. You can read more of this great story in Joshua 2:18 – it speaks an important word to us in our age. 

The true definition of faith is taking action in response to God’s will. I used to think that faith is a mysterious good feeling, a kind of force that takes over. Actually no. You may actually be feeling fear, but faith is making a choice to step away from fear through a positive action that says ‘yes’ to God. Fear can be like a prison with invisible walls. Faith is realizing those walls are not real, that they’re just lines in the sand. So you take a deep breath and risk a step over the line into glorious freedom. 

When you take a step of faith like this, God acts for you and you will never fail or be ashamed. He ties a scarlet ribbon around your life, guaranteeing that Christ will rescue you. Faith is crossing the line of our fears, into the safer hands of God. Whether prostitute or seeming saint, God calls anyone who trust Him ‘righteous’. They have his support, His love and His favor.

What do you fear? Step over the line and out of prison. You’ve got what it takes to believe.