Guest Post- Unshakable: Rooted in Faith, Carried by Grace

Mira
Oct 2
6 min read

(Hey readers! It's me, Mira, popping in to give you guys this week's post. Today, guest writer Shadow from the blog Shine Bright has graciously agreed to do a post swap with me. You can find my guest post on her blog, and read more of her lovely writing, at this link: Shine Bright | by Shadow)

There are many amazing people in the Bible, but stories of women doing important things for God really intrigues me. When I found this saying on Pinterest, I just knew I had to write something about it. Then Mira and I got to talking and that’s how this post ended up on The Vintage Heart. Thank you, Mira, for your friendship and all your work on The Vintage Heart.

Sarah (Genesis 12:10-23:20)

Before I go any further, I want you to realize that no human is perfect (except Jesus, of course). When we look at other people in our lives, we will see their mistakes and you know what? We can find beauty in others' mistakes because we can learn from those mistakes. Even though these six women are not the perfect role model, we can look at their lives and learn more about God. So let’s dive into the stories of these women.

Sarah is a very interesting Bible character with a very interesting story. She goes from a not-so- great start concerning the birth of Ishmael, to being blessed by God, then to laughing at God’s promise about giving birth to a son. Like I said. Not a perfect role model. But God uses broken people to make things happen.

Wait like Sarah. You might be telling me, “But Sarah is known for laughing at God’s promise of giving her a son.” Yes, that’s true, and Ishmael’s birth doesn’t make it much better, but like I said before, we can learn from others' mistakes.

God’s plan may include a lot of waiting, but be patient. The next step of God’s plan is always right around the corner.

Rahab (Joshua 2:1-24)

Rahab is amazing. She is just so incredible. First, a little background on the city of Jericho, which is where this story takes place.

Jericho grew rich by trading with other cities and kingdoms. They built massive stone walls around their city to protect themselves from jealous people living in the nearby villages. They did some weird things, like putting the scull of their loved ones who had died on display and their family members who died were buried under their houses.

Rahab lived in the massive wall of the city. Well, in part of it, anyway. We don’t know how tall the walls of Jericho were, but tall enough to be a house. Maybe her house was two stories plus the roof, or maybe only one story. Whatever her house looked like, it had to have a roof where she hid the spies and a window in which she let the spies down from.

Rahab protected the two spies by hiding them from the kind of Jericho on her roof. Because of this kindness, Rahab was spared from being destroyed with the rest of Jericho.

God blesses those who fear Him.

Ruth (Ruth 1-4)

I have only one thing to say about Ruth. Her story is marvelous. She is so loyal to Naomi, but more importantly, to God. She trusted God with her whole heart, soul, and mind.

First, Ruth’s husband dies, then her brother in law passes away as well. Now it’s just Ruth, Orpah (her sister in law), and her mother in law, Naomi. We aren’t told anything about Ruth’s direct family. Maybe Ruth’s family was dead as well, or maybe they didn’t want Ruth. But whatever the reason, Ruth didn’t stay in her homeland. She moves to Bethehem with Naomi and together, Mother and daughter, try to make a living. God leads Ruth to Boaz and in the end, Ruth gets married to Boaz. Ruth’s great-grandson is David. King David.

Ruth’s story teaches us to trust in God, who is always good and will always be good. Even through trial and trouble, we need to trust God that His plan will always prevail.

Hannah (1 Samuel 1-2:11)

Prayer. I have to admit it. I’m not the greatest at praying. I just simply don’t think of it. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, is an excellent picture of prayer and why it’s important.

Hannah was married to Elkanah, who had another wife besides Hannah. The other’s name was Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. Hannah desperately longed for a child and what I find so amazing is that Hannah didn’t try anything wrong, like Sarah and the birth of Ishmael. Hannah’s answer to her problems was prayer.

We are told that Hannah, year after year, would go and sacrifice to the Lord at Shiloh. Years and years of prayer went by, and finally Hannah vowed to the Lord. “O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life and no razor shall touch his head.” (1 Samuel 1:11 ESV).

Hannah humbles herself to pray to God. She calls herself a servant twice. This shows us that in order to pray, we must humble ourselves. We must acknowledge that we are praying to a God, a good God far, far better than us. Hannah humbles herself in order to pray.

Hannah pleaded with the Lord and finally, after years of prayer, God gave Hannah a son, who she named Samuel. She kept her vow, even though she had waited in prayer for years for this son. Hannah gave up her long awaited son. It reads in 1 Samuel 1: 28, “Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”

Esther (Ester 1-10)

Esther’s complex story starts by being orphaned. She is brought up by Mordecai. Mordecai is actually Esther’s cousin, but there had to be a large age gap between the two for him to take care of Esther. I will not dive too deep into Esther’s story because of the elaborate story line, but here is the simple version. The king exiles his wife, Queen Vashti, and decides there should be a new queen of Persia. He sets up a sort of beauty contest for the young women of Persia in order to find a queen. Whoever is the most beautiful, becomes queen. This “contest” is not optional. You were forced to the palace if they wanted to or not. For 12 months the women were “beautifyed”. “...after being twelve months under the regulations for the women, since this was the regular period of their beautifying, six months with oil of myrrh and six months with spices and ointments for women…”

In the end Esther becomes the new queen of Persia. Haman, a sort of prince, hates the jews and decides to wipe them out. Esther saves her people from death by unmasking Haman’s evil plan to the king.

Leading. How do you lead? Leading does not only mean leading an army into battle or something like that. You can lead others everyday by doing simple things like being the first to stand up and obey your mom when she tells you to pack the dishwasher. Or encourage others to do the right thing and help them with that. Esther led her kingdom by standing up against evil. You may not lead others in the extreme way Esther did, but you can lead others to Christ by literally doing the right thing. That’s it. That’s all you have to do.

Mary (Luke 1:26-66)

Everyone knows who Mary is. Mary is the mother of Jesus, but she’s not only the mother of Jesus (though that is amazing!). The crazy thing about Mary is her trust in God and the fact that she worships God. Mary was likely a teenager when the angel came to her with the news that she was going to give birth to Jesus. The Promised One. The long awaited Messiah. Instead of backing down from this calling, Mary steps up and rejoices.

Her story can teach us that we can rejoice even through hard times. Even when it seems that the whole world is against us. When no one listens. When a loved one passes away. When your friend ditches you. Your parents divorce. God is a good God and will never leave you. God may put hard things in your life, but even if He does, we need to remember that it is for our good. Every hard thing is for a reason. It is in God’s hands. Mary expressed her love, trust, faithfulness, and willingness through her song, Mary’s Song of Praise: The Magnificat, which is found in Luke 1:46-55. Rejoice. Rejoice even through the hard times. Rejoice because God is good.

To Wrap it up…

I encourage you to follow in these amazing women’s footsteps. Wait like Sarah (the next step of God’s plan is always around the corner). Protect like Rahab (God blesses those who fear Him). Trust like Ruth (even through trial, we must trust God). Pray like Hannah (humble yourself to pray). Lead like Esther (lead others by doing the right thing). Rejoice like Mary (rejoice even through the hard times).

Hi, I'm Shadow, the author behind the blog Shine Bright. My goal is to reach young girls and teens with the truth of being a Christian and how to Shine Bright in this dark world with the Bible as our guide. If you want to read further, check out my blog to read devotions, stories, and more at