“Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.” Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall.
—Joshua 2:12-15 ESV
I remember mentioning once that, on every level of life, a person’s dreams are almost always beyond their budget (unless their dreams are actually too small for them)! However, I very often say that there are ways for us to barter and trade that do not include the use of money. Today, I am challenging us to observe in our own lives: When was the last time we each took inventory of what is accessible to us? What valuable things do each of us have and what are we individually able to bring to any given table? Ask yourself what you are naturally good at. What are some resources that are readily at your disposal? What skills come naturally to you? All of these things are resources that have potential to give someone an upper hand in life, once they figure out how to utilize them in an advantageous way. Do you know what almost automatically makes a country rich? It is very often a country’s natural resources that contribute to its economy, giving it an advantage to be able to trade for things it does not have. The truth is that many of us have natural resources at our disposal as well. It will simply behoove us to utilize these resources, instead of allowing them to go unused.
The reference verses above show a snapshot of a story about a prostitute named Rahab who bartered with some spies from God’s army. Keep in mind that Rahab did all of this without the use of money. If we were to look at the verses that precede the ones above, Rahab was very well aware of the fact that she was about to barter with blessed men who may have appeared on the surface to have “everything.” The truth is that, since we are living in a world where almost everyone’s dreams and goals are dwelling somewhere beyond their capacity to fulfill them, no matter how “blessed” a person appears to be, there is almost always something they will be willing to offer in exchange for what they are seeking. In this case, even though these men were very blessed, they still needed protection. Rahab had a house on the city wall and realized she could use it to hide these blessed men from their enemies. But that’s not all. Rahab also used her house (which was her resource) as a bargaining tool to get what it was that she really wanted—which was safety for herself and her family.
As Rahab utilized her resource, let us similarly ask ourselves this question: “What resources, skills, talents, and abilities do I have at my disposal?” Every time you find yourself in a pickle or a jam, or find yourself wanting to attain access to something you do not have, ask yourself this question again: “What resources, skills, talents, and abilities do I have at my disposal?” Whether the answers to that question are things that come naturally to you or things that are just readily accessible to you (etc.), they are your competitive advantages in this world. Hebrews 11:31 NLT says, “It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.” I’m sure Rahab was not the only person with a house that could have hidden these spies from their enemies. However, Rahab was the only person with a house, who had the vision to recognize her resource and use it as a bargaining tool for what she wanted. I am sure that if Rahab the prostitute could use her faith, you and I have no excuse. If we take inventory of what we have, many of us would be surprised to see that we are actually richer than we often consider ourselves to be. Use what you have to barter for what you want. That’s the power of the trade.
Lots of Love, XO
