好萊塢電影裡的特務往往就像無敵英雄，瀟灑帥氣地開著酷炫名貴的跑車四處奔馳。但美國前中情局局長喬娜·門德斯（Jonna Mendez）描繪的真實情況卻是完全相反。她說：「特務必須像個低調的普通人，平凡而不起眼，讓人過目即忘。」最強的特務，往往看起來最不可能是個特務！

當以色列的兩名探子潛入耶利哥城時，喇合將他們藏起來不讓耶利哥王的士兵發現（約書亞記2章4節）。喇合似乎是最不可能被上帝雇用的特務，因為她有三個不利的條件：她是迦南人、是個女人且是個妓女。然而，喇合相信以色列人的上帝，她說：「你們的上帝是天上地下的上帝」（11節，和合本修訂版）。她將兩名探子藏在屋頂上的麻稈堆裡，協助他們冒險逃脫。最終，喇合因著信而得到上帝的獎賞，因約書亞遵守承諾，「放過妓女喇合和她的父家」（6章25節，新譯本）。

有時，我們會覺得自己是最不可能被上帝使用的人。或許我們覺得能力不足，不夠出色，不能領導他人，或曾有不光彩的過去。但歷史上處處可見被上帝拯救的「平凡」信徒，就像喇合一樣，因上帝的國度而被賦予獨特的使命。我們可以確定，上帝在我們當中最不可能被祂使用的人身上，都有祂神聖的計劃。

Hollywood gives us larger-than-life spies who are dashing drivers of flashy Aston-Martins and other luxury sports cars. But Jonna Mendez, a former CIA chief, paints an opposite picture of the real thing. An agent must be “the little gray man,” she says, someone nondescript, not flashy. “You want them to be forgettable.” The best agents are those least likely to appear like agents.

When two of Israel’s spies slipped into Jericho, it was Rahab who hid them from the king’s soldiers (Joshua 2:4). She was seemingly the least likely person for God to employ as an espionage agent, for she had three strikes against her: she was a Canaanite, a woman, and a prostitute. Yet Rahab had started to believe in the God of the Israelites: “Your God is God in heaven” (v. 11). She hid God’s spies under flax on the roof, assisting in their daring escape. God rewarded her faith: “Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family” (6:25).

Sometimes we might feel we’re the least likely to be used by God. Perhaps we have physical limitations, don’t feel “flashy” enough to lead, or have a tarnished past. But history is filled with “nondescript” believers redeemed by God, people like Rahab who were given a special mission for His kingdom. Be assured: He has divine purposes for even the least likely of us.