The Backside of a Cross Stitch

I don’t usually daydream about prostitutes.

While reading the beginning of the book of Joshua, and then flipping to Matthew a few days later, I had a vision about Rahab. She was a prostitute and was in the line of Jesus.

In the book of Joshua, spies were sent out to figure out how to take the city of Jericho. They hid in Rahab’s house while she sent the Jericho army off on a wild goose chase. They stayed hidden until it was safe to escape. She arranged for her family to be saved when Jericho was destroyed in exchange for her help. Because of her faith in God, not only were she and her family saved, Rahab literally was part of Jesus’ family. She married Salmon of the tribe of Judah and was the mother of Boaz. Boaz married Ruth and they were the great grandparents of David!

When you think of Jesus, you think about the Israelites, but his lineage includes a Canaanite. Through her daughter in law, Ruth, there is also a Moabite. Earlier in the Old Testament, Tamar tricked her father in law, Judah, into fathering her twins, Perez and Zerah. Perez is part of Jesus’ family. And who can forget Bathsheba? She was taken from her husband by Kind David. Whether or not these women did the right thing, they were in Jesus’ lineage!

When I think of these ladies, it brings to mind my cross stitch. The end result is beautiful-at least the front. No matter what the front looks like, the back is a hot mess of knots, extra thread, and weird lines. None of it looks like it belongs or makes sense.

To me, that is God’s sense of humor. We can try to make sense of His choices and how He weaves His story together, but we will never get it. It isn’t like a puzzle where, once pieces are put together, it becomes clear. No, God likes to take different screwed up people from different places and put them all in a grand story.

If everyone in Jesus’ family were alike and all from Israel, everyone else would feel like they don’t belong. And if they all started out as upstanding citizens, anyone with a past would feel unworthy. But God says, “You are all welcome in My family. I will clean you up and make you worthy.”

Next time you feel like you are the backside of a cross stitch, flip it and see the beauty God is putting in you.

Linking with Holley Gerth