Rahab was a woman who could easily say that she had no right to dream. She was a prostitute in a pagan land where children were not sacred. She probably had several abortions just to keep her job. She was good at her job; it provided her with vast wealth and security. Yet, she was unsatisfied with her life. She wanted something more. So, she dreamed.

There are four keys to dreaming that we can learn from Rahab. The first key is “If we want to dream and have vision, we need to face our fears.†All too often, we run from our fears, but it is in our fears that we find our vision. Rahab lived in the city walls. She could see out for miles. She saw the Israelite army coming toward her city. She had heard rumors about this mighty people; how their enemies were vanquished before them; and how their God was mightier than all. She had every reason to be afraid, but, instead of giving into the fear, she faced it and found a vision that would change her life forever.

The second key is “Vision carries risk, faith, and uncertainty.†We cannot truly accomplish the extraordinary if we are unwilling to step out into the unknown. Vision takes risk. Risk is taken when we connect our vision to faith. Rahab took a big risk and an even bigger step of faith into the unknown in order to achieve her vision. She hid the Israeli spies and then lied to the king in order to protect them. Her very life was on the line for her vision.

The third key is “Vision carries an element of God.†Is your vision all about you? There is nothing wrong with having personal goals. It is healthy to want to change and better yourself. However, leave a little room for God’s will. Allow Him to stir in your dreams and visions that will benefit other people. Rahab told the spies that she wanted her family to be saved from the coming destruction. She was not thinking solely of herself. She knew it would be hard for the Israelites to save all of them, but she refused to be selfish.

The fourth and final key is “Vision has to cost.†How valuable is your vision? What are you willing to sacrifice in order to see it come to pass? Rahab sacrified everything she knew—her culture, her home, her occupation, and her gods in order to align herself with Israel. She would have faced rejection from this new people as she fought to become one of them, but she did not care. She would see the vision come to pass.

Rahab gave up everything for her vision, and God blessed her. He gave her a loving husband who encouraged her and built her up in her new faith. God gave her children—a woman who had most likely sacrificed and aborted so many children! And God honored her by placing her in the linage of Christ. She did not know that all of this would happen when she first conceived her vision. She simply decided to dream.