Good People, Bad Choices

I wanted to thank you all for all your prayers, advice and encouragement with my last post regarding the struggle of praising God during the not-so-great times we encounter in our lives. Talking about the issue(s) of your children making poor choices/decisions even when you've done your best trying to raise them with Godly guidance and boundaries reminded me of a post I did waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy back in December of '08, so I decided to re-post it today. (one, because I don't think anyone read it......and two, because I have been swamped this past week with more babies arriving.....Praise GOD!........and wrapping up the majority of our construction projects.)

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Good People, Bad Choices (originally posted Dec 13, 2008)

So we were going over the story of Rahab the other night with our Jesse Tree devotion. This is another one of my favorite stories in The Book. It's just so "real" and relatable. I mean, we all have a past.......some more ugly than others. But we also see how God doesn't always pick the most righteous people to do His work......in fact........He's picked some of the least likely people. So I guess it shows us that sometimes we don't feel worthy for God to "choose" us based on our past.....but we are exactly who He needs. He can turn a harlot into a heroine.......surely He can use us as well.

So yeah, Rahab made some pretty bad choices in her life.....and to think that God used her in such a mighty way....We might ask/think......why? Out of all the people in Jericho, why on Earth would He choose such a woman??? I guess this is another testimony on to how God orchestrates everything and has it all go to His plan. Pretty sure He led these spies to her home......and it was the "right" time for her to have the opportunity to make a choice...will she protect these spies and have faith in their God.......or protect herself and warn the city? I believe this was the moment that Rahab had her fresh new start in life.....she reveals an understanding of Christ that seems impossible considering her past life of sin. Perhaps, being trapped by sin for so long, she was so ready to be freed from the captivity. Throughout Scripture, the poor and the less fortunate were drawn to Jesus......He even told the Pharisees that "the harlots and tax collectors will enter Heaven before you" in the Book of Matthew.

I read this on this site, thought it was pretty amazing:
From that time on, Rahab dwelt with the Israelites. She married a man from the tribe of Judah named Salmon and had a son whom they named Boaz. Boaz took a gentile bride from Moab named Ruth and they had a son named Obed, who had a son named Jesse who had a son named David who became King of Israel (Ruth 4:13-22). And 26 generations later, two distant cousins who were both descendants of King David (and therefore of Rahab and Salmon) married and became the earthly parents of our Lord Jesus. And so when you read the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew, you’ll find Rahab listed there (Matt 1:5).

Pretty cool, huh? :)

So yes.....I guess this story teaches us that even if we don't have the best track record in life, eh hem....like *me*.....God can use us. Maybe it's just to give that grouchy sales clerk a smile or encouraging word......or to pay for the person's coffee behind you in the drive thru as a random act of kindness.....or to be ready to tell others about Christ. He probably has already prepared their heart to receive The Good News even if they appear to be the least likely to be interested.


Oh, and one last thing and keeping it real (I know I talk about how blessed we are, but never want to come off as a "pokey cheeky we are are so wonderful"......

.......no, we have dirt, we have issues......plenty!, we are far from perfect........ we just are doing the best we can with God's tools when problems come up in our lives)

so.......speaking of good people making bad choices......I'd like to say that Gunner is a good example on this subject. For whatever idiotic reason, he decided to have his friend trim up his "chin strap" (yes, I am a mother of a son with a beard, yikes)....in Chemistry class. This idiotic decision landed him in the principal's office. This idiotic decision also earned him a nice punishment including Josh's instruction that the chin strap will be removed until further notice. Gunner takes great pride in his facial adornment......almost to a "Samson" level......so this was the perfect punishment. He also lost many other privileges for quite some time. Did I mention how I thought this was an idiotic move? I am pretty sure Gunner realizes this now too......every time he looks in the mirror.

Maybe this is what he needed to have a fresh start himself....time to straighten up his act....(again).....and realize that fooling around, making bad choices gets him no-where fast. We told him the choice was his......(inserting the wide road~being the popular/ class clown, getting the laughs, etc vs. the narrow road ~focus on doing the Right thing lesson too).

The one thing he did do, that was not so idiotic, was calling Josh immediately after it all happened. We have always taught the kids about how the punishment would def. be less severe if they are honest and upfront. He could have certainly not even mentioned the incident as we probably would have never found out.....but I guess we have gotten a few good messages through to him these past years....as he readily confessed from the school's bathroom stall. I think that saved him from having his head shaved as well.

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So I guess I needed to re-read this as well today and remember how blessed we all are when we make mistakes, which we all do and know that we can come to our Loving Father and confess those sins and wrong-doings to Him (of course He already knows about them). He is abundant in mercy and ready to forgive. He is eager to forget and always has His arms open wide with unconditional LOVE!


I hope you have a blessed weekend with family and loved ones today.....
*~Michelle~*