Can God Really Use a Prostitute and a Drunk to Change the World? You Bet He Can.

Now, I know that title might raise a few eyebrows—but that is the point! Sometimes we need a perspective shift to start to hear what the good Lord is trying to tell us.

If you’re a woman over 50 in recovery, (or anyone else) maybe you’ve got a few stories you’d rather not share at the church potluck or anywhere there are other humans for that matter but your story can transform a life!

Whether you’ve battled the bottle, buried yourself in shame, or feel like your best years were spent in a blackout fog doing things you wish you couldn’t remember, I want you to know something: God’s not done with you.

Not even close.

Take Rahab, for instance. She was a full-blown, Old-Testament-certified prostitute. Not exactly the kind of lady you’d expect in a Sunday school lesson let alone raised up as someone to model your life after, right? And yet—God used her to not only help save an entire nation but change the world for all eternity!

I did a video in my Linda’s Life Lesson’s of Recovery series on what we could learn from her life a while back that you can listen to HERE but since then I got to thinking more about how those of us recovering alcoholics are like Rahab.

If you don’t know the story, Rahab was a prostitute who lived in Jericho, a town that the Israelites were trying to occupy, but they really needed to know more about the city, so God told them to go into the city and go to the house of Rahab.

This woman believed in God and knew that she wanted to be a part of his people if she was going to save her family. When the Israelite spies come knocking on the door, she knew what to do and when the authorities came looking for them in her home, she hid them on the roof, knowing she was risking her life.

Later, when the Israelites did take over Jericho, she had been told that if she hung a red Scarlet cord out her window, she and her family would be saved, and they were.

So how are us women in recovery like Rahab?

1. We both have a reputation that we may not be proud of. People talk and make comments and the things they say can be hurtful, even if they’re true.

The good news: God doesn’t care what people say he rewrites reputations.

2. We both lived in a wall. Rahab house was built within the city wall of Jericho on the margins of society. Us recovering women have been hiding behind emotional walls of shame in regret, and the fear of being found out.

The good news: God specializes in breaking down walls, the city walls, emotional walls, and any other walls we may have put up to keep him and others out.

3. We both had to take a risk to trust God

Rahab risked her life to hide the spies and defy the authorities. We take a risk by admitting we have a problem, showing up at meetings, seeing a counselor, and talking to others to get help.

The good news: God rewards, courageous faith, no matter how messy it looks.

4. Both of us were used for a bigger purpose. Rahab became part of the lineage of Jesus, a prostitute in the family tree of the King of Kings. We, as recovering women can become a spiritual mother, mentor, and walking testimony of God‘s power.

The good news: God loves using the least likely to show off his mercy and grace.

5. Both of us chose a new identity. Rahab went from harlot to hero in Hebrews 11 and we go from drunk to disciple and from regret to redeemed.

The good news: God doesn’t just clean you up he adopted you named you and calls you his own.

So if you are walking in guilt and shame, and you wonder how God could possibly use an old washed up wounded old soul, just remember that He works all things together for the good and for His glory because He made you and loves even if you haven’t been the best “lady” in town!

To listen to my FB LIVE message that I did on this just go HERE