I have been looking forward to reading the book of Esther ever since I started reading through the Bible this year. It is a perfect "summer" book. The book is full of romance, power, intrigue, and drama. It is a true story of God's profound power to take a simple woman and use her to save the Jewish people.
The story takes place in the Persian Empire, and the Jews are in exile. King Xerxes banishes the queen for not taking orders from him. (Jon, I promise I will take out the trash next Sunday!) King Xerxes decides to look for another queen, and long story short, he comes across Esther who is a beautiful young Jewish girl.
Meanwhile, Mordecai, Esther's older cousin, became a government official and foiled an assassination plot against the king. The ambitious and self-serving Haman (you don't know anyone like that do you?) wanted Mordecai to bow down to him. Haman was second-in-command to the king, and wanted to be revered. Not only did Haman want Mordecai to bow to him, but he wanted all of the Jewish people to bow as well. When they refused he was furious! He deceived the king and persuaded him to issue an edict condemning the Jews to death.
Mordecai told Esther about this edict, and she decided to risk her life to save her people. (Do you remember what happened to the last wife that the king was not happy with?) Queen Esther asked her husband to attend a special banquet the next day. She also invited Haman (I bet he did not get very many social invites). That night, the king could not sleep. He started flipping through some old records in the royal archives, and he read of the assassination plot that Mordecai thwarted. He was surprised to learn that Mordecai was never properly thanked!
The next morning the king is talking to Haman about a hero that never properly got thanked, and (you guessed it) Haman thought he was talking about him! Haman comes up with a really rich reward. The king agrees to the reward. Haman is shocked to find out it is Mordecai! (God has such a great sense of humor)
During Esther's banquet that night, the king asks her what she desires. She tells the king of the plot to destroy her people, and she names Haman as the culprit. Immediately the king sentences Haman to the gallows that Haman had build for Mordecai!
There are so many wonderful lessons to learn through this story. The main lesson is that God takes ordinary people and uses them for him purpose. I am sure that Mordecai and Esther did not grow up knowing that they would save the Jewish people, but they did have a profound faith in their God. When they were placed in that situation, they were true to their hearts and surrendered over their fears to God.
God has a plan for each of us, and He will provided the courage and strength for us to follow out that plan if we seek his will and surrender ourselves over to Him. My Bible Study group is reading Joel Osteen's book, "Becoming a Better You". When you become a better you, it means that you recognize that you have the bloodline of God, and that you don't have to accept anything less in your life than what God has planned for you. God has planned a purpose for all of us, and it is up to us to search and be open to that plan.
I consider myself very fortunate to have found my purpose this past year. I believe that God prepared me from the moment I was born for this moment. Living with purpose takes all the fear away of what my future holds. I take one day at a time, and trust that I am living God's "Plan A" for my life. Like Esther, we are all born to do something in our life that will make a difference. Living with purpose means that in some way you are using your talents to help others. Teacher, mother, father... We were all born to give of ourselves.
I hope you use your talents today for God!
Love,
Sandy
P.S. We are heading to Seattle for a week! I will try to post while we are gone if I can find a computer and some time!
