Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Well, what do you know!

"The Lord your God is God..."
Joshua 2:11

We had an interesting experience this week ~ a visit from the U.S. Air Force.  A friend of ours is employed at a company who builds things for the government, and he has applied for a new position within the company.  This new position is in a department that deals with classified stuff, so he has to be thoroughly vetted before they can consider him.  Our friend listed the Apple of my Eye as a personal reference, so he was questioned about our friend this week.

I was not part of the interview, but I was in a nearby room working, and heard some of what he was asking.  Basically, he explained, the agent would be asking questions about our friend, John, that he already knew the answers to.  By answering these questions, my Hubby would demonstrate how well he knows John.  Then the agent would know how much weight to give to my Hubby's opinion of John.  Hubby could say, "no, I've never seen John drink, or smoke, or say anything about undermining the U.S. government...."  He was sharing his opinion of John, but also what he knows.

The conversation they were having reminded me of a passage I'd just read in the Book of Joshua.  It's about Rahab again ~ she's really teaching me this week!  She has been made famous in Scripture for protecting the Israelite spies that came to scope out Jericho.  When the king of Jericho sent his men looking for the spies, she lied about their whereabouts, having hidden them under stalks of flax on her roof.

The reason that she did this was her faith in God.  A God of whom she had only heard.  But she had apparently heard plenty:  "I know that the Lord has given you this land, and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.  We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.  When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear, and everyone's courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below."

Rahab's description of God was very accurate, showing how well she knew Him.  She didn't know everything about Him, but what she knew, she had taken to heart.  And it affected the decision she was now making, hiding the spies.  And she would use this knowledge of God to convince her family to be with her in her home when Jericho fell, thereby saving their lives.  In the same way, the Apple of my Eye was sharing the facts about John as well as his opinion.  The visitor from the Air Force was taking into account his knowledge, and using it to make a decision.

How well do you know God?  What do you want to tell people about Him?  A good way to start, is to tell what you know about Him.   What has He done in your life?  Has He given you peace in uncertain times?  Has He provided for you when you didn't know where the money was going to come from?  Has He answered a heartfelt prayer?  Has He given you wisdom, knowledge or strength by letting you go through trials?

God is more than we can understand.  The greatest theologian still has questions unanswered.  The best Bible study in the world is going to leave you wanting to know more ~ and there will always be more to know.   But just because you don't know all the facts in His Word, doesn't mean that you can't sing His praises, and the changes He has made in you.  This is your testimony.  Just share what you know.

~ "Thanks be to God, 
who always leads us 
in triumphal procession in Christ,
and through us spreads everywhere
 the fragrance of the knowledge of Him" ~
2 Corinthians 2:14

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