Rahab had a job

Rahab had a job.

Hers was a filthy, low-down, no good, wretched, sinful job. I wonder if it was her first job? Was it her only vocation? When and how do you think she lost her grip? Maybe she was a baker of bread or watcher of other people’s children before she loosed her hold on what was good and respectful, before she dishonorably disrobed for a living.

Or maybe Rahab’s decent into the flaming sheets of hell started in her youth.

Was it when her family cast her out? Or when she hid from abuse? Or when someone with evil motives told her that he loved her? Or maybe her family didn’t toss her, but they unintentionally lost her when their livelihood, their home, and their security got thrown to the hogs.

My youthful first jobs included cleaning, babysitting, and waitressing. Those minimum wage days are long gone as I now work for free as a wife and a mom, and at other times as a paid writer and photographer.

To do the latter mentioned work, I sit at a large, metal schoolmarm-ish desk. A while back I tied a blood-red cord to the top drawer.

This scarlet rope is loosely knotted and it’s long enough to hang low. I can touch it with the toe of my right leg whilst I type. I hung it there to remind me that before I found my kinship with the holy, I was a filthy, low-down, no good, wretched, sinful woman; I reckon I was no better than Rahab.

My choice now is too sit with my legs crossed at my knees as I plunk away on the keyboard, and for the most part, I’m free to do with my day as I please; but this is not the case for about 200,000 children each year in our country. This American nation of ours, the very one that was founded on the God-honored principles, houses a mostly un-talked about, horrific, child sex-trafficking industry that preys on young, defenseless victims.

One in three street children (I said children) does not have the option to do anything each day, but forcibly “service” anywhere from 10-15 whacked adult men and women who in turn each pay a dastardly pimp around $400.00 for an hour to do what they will with an enslaved child. These kiddos do these deeds against their will because they are threatened with of loss of life, both theirs and that of persons within their family.

Homelessness, for whatever reason (family job loss, flight from domestic abuse, runaways, etc.) is the most at-risk place a young person can find his or herself today.

Within forty-eight hours of hitting the streets, one in three kiddos (as young as 5-years old) is forced into prostitution. For the most part, they (and oftentimes their mammas) are not initially strong-armed into a sex-slavery situation, rather they are first told lies about provision and comfort and safety by the devil’s very own workers who walk around as smooth-talking pimps.

Lies masquerading as love drags kids into the fiery pits of sex-slavery hell right here in America, home of the brave and land of the free.

Perhaps your first teenage job was slinging burgers on a grill or clearing tables at a restaurant or mowing lawns in summer’s heat. And perhaps your children will be fortunate enough to never live or step foot on the same streets where the homeless are—but what about those that do end up on the street and then get eaten by pimps?

Maybe you will never see the rope burn marks around wrists, the blackened places of hearts, the knocked out teeth, the too-small wombs ripped apart—dare I ask, does that give you cause to turn away, cast a blind eye, or pretend you didn’t know anything about the atrocities going on at truck stops and hotels in your city?

I’ve got news for you… Nope. No sir. No ma’am. Now you know. Now you know. And God knows you know.

So, whatcha gonna do about it?

Think about your first job.

Think about Rahab. Maybe prostitution wasn’t her first choice. Why and when and how could it ever be?

When you think of this woman, you must also realize that she was shown great mercy. And great love. In contrast to the forsaken and forgotten children that I’ve written about today, Rahab was a full-grown woman who recognized that she needed mercy and love. Somewhere along the way she got wind of this God, this Savior, and she wanted the strength and freedom that He offered.

What will happen to those that don’t know about the immeasurable grace and mercy of our God? Or what about those that haven’t even been told of His existence?

And what if children are rescued from the streets, but not from the devil’s death-grip hold on their souls?

Human-trafficked children oftentimes think their filth, their sin, their disease, and their shame is their fault and theirs alone to carry. And if no one ever tells them any different—the dastardly, deceitful lies—will be received as truth.

Father God, show us how to help these loved-starved, enslaved, child victims to believe the Truth rather than the lies they’ve been fed. Show us how to help free them from the flames of hell’s fire on earth. The life they’ve been forced to live isn’t the life You intend so please give us guidance in using our money, our time, our talents, our mercy, and our love to reach out to these kids with armloads of the only love that matters. And Lord God, I beg You to have mercy on their souls. In Jesus’ name, amen.

When we see Rahab in the clouds that glorious day, I reckon we won’t remember the job that she traded for the scarlet cord she hung out her window. Why? Because her very belief and hope in Life was rooted in Truth rather than in lies—and it not only saved her earthly life, but gave her an eternal life as well.

It’s no longer a question of if you will help, but rather, when & how will you help?

Here are some ways to give:

• Your time (in ministering to these victims),
• Your talents (in writing about the atrocities of human trafficking),
• Your activism (in enlightening your local, state & national representatives about the lack of legal protection for the victims and to trade mere finger-wagging penalties for substantial prosecution for the pimps and abusers),
• Your money (to support shelters and ministries already in the thick of the battle)
• Your prayers (to pound down the devil’s dirty doings by trusting these victims into the Lord’s midst where they will find healing, comfort, righteousness, hope, peace, strength, and unconditional love).

Love is not just a feeling; it’s an action. Do something for the least of these among us.


– Above statistics taken from this site: http://www.forsakengeneration.com/
– Go to Forsaken Generation for more horrific, yet real data, & to find ways you can help
– Visit Arts Aftercare, a Seattle-based ministry with a vision that involves “The restoration and rehabilitation of survivors of human trafficking” at their site: http://www.artsaftercare.org/learn
– Rahab’s biblical story: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua%202&version=NIV