Living like Esther

[My Scripture-reading habits are sporadic at best, but this summer I've been more consistent, thanks to some free time every morning and "Portals of Prayer" devotions with my husband every day.  Today I just started reading the book of Esther.]

I've read Esther's story before, but like any good book, I get more out of every re-reading of Scripture.  I have a few things in common with Esther, too, and as a result I can relate with her in a way.

There are also a lot of things I do not have in common with Esther: I'm not an orphan, I'm not being trained to be part of a king's harem, I'm not Jewish, and most relieving, the lives of my family and distant relatives are not being threatened by an evil political leader.  (So glad there's no Haman in my life!)

However, there are some important commonalities between Esther's life and mine.  I'm a young woman without much knowledge of what the future holds for me and my family.  In a way, I'm a foreigner in a strange world: as a child of God living in a world darkened by sin, I can imagine how Esther felt living in the king's palace.

Most importantly, even though I don't know exactly what the future holds, God does and he has a plan for me.  I know that he has a job for me to do in his kingdom, and even though I might not know just what that is, I know that God will lead me to serve his purposes.  I can trust that each day I strive to live obediently to God, I am carrying out his purposes for me, even if I never see the results of those purposes.

In Esther's story, she was faced with a terrifying choice: Approach the king uninvited and plead with him to spare the lives of her people, and risk being killed herself as a result, or keep quiet and fail to prevent the deaths of her fellow Jews.  Her uncle Mordecai told her this:

"Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape.  For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish.  And who knows but that you have come to the royal position for such a time as this?"  (Esther 4: 12-14)

Esther bravely went before the king uninvited, and thereby saved the lives of all the Jews who had been threatened by the king's edict.  As a result of her ending up in a place where she probably didn't even want to be, God used her to rescue his people-- the people from whom Jesus himself was descended.

Did Esther know at the time what the amazing results of her actions would be?  Probably not.

But she trusted God nonetheless, and did what she knew was right even in the face of possible death.

I might never be faced with such a frightening decision.  But each day I can choose to obey God, or not.  Thanks to his grace and love, I have the ability to choose obedience.  His Spirit in my heart gives me the will and strength to do so.  Just think what things might happen, living a life as a child of God!

What Bible character can you relate with?  How have you seen Scripture coming alive in your own life?

Linking with:  Raising Homemakers, Upward Not Inward, Deep Roots at Home, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home

Theology: What I believe about God

The subject of God fills books.  There are way too many different false gods in this world, but I believe in the only true God: the God of the Christian Bible.  The Bible is all about God: who he is, what he has done, and how much he loves us.  What are the most important things about God?  That's what I'd like to cover in this post.

I believe in God not because of anything I can do, but because he has given me faith to believe in him.

He created the universe and everything in it, including all people, which gives every person inherent worth as a creation of God.

He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere at the same time.

He is three Persons in one God.  I can't explain how this is, but I know it by faith.  God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  God the Son is Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate--man and God, both at the same time, neither more or less of the other.  As man, he was able to die on the cross; as God, he lived a sinless life, and therefore his death counted for the sins of all people-- and he didn't stay dead!  He rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and will return someday to bring all those who believe in him to live with him in heaven for eternity.

God the Holy Spirit came into my heart at my baptism, and it is he who gives me faith.  The Holy Spirit gives me the ability to live a life that is obedient to God; without the gift of faith no good works I do are good at all.  But no works do anything to help me earn salvation.  In fact, I cannot do anything at all to "earn" salvation.  It is a gift.

Because he loves me, God has saved me from sin, death, and the power of Satan.  He has given this gift freely, without expecting anything from me.  He gives me faith to believe in him, and as a result of believing in God and what Jesus has done for me, I am forgiven of all the bad things I do, and I am reconciled to God, and can look forward to eternity with him in heaven--all because of his grace to me.

Now, it is possible to reject the gifts of faith, salvation and eternal life.  Many people have chosen to do so, and they will have to endure the consequences of that choice.  But God freely offers the gift of faith to all people.

It's important to remember that we can't fully understand everything about God.  If we could understand him completely, he wouldn't be God!  Our minds are finite, and as humans we simply don't have the mental capacity to understand the enormity that is God.  We can understand aspects of who he is and what he does, but it is not for us to understand him fully.  That's okay.  That's why he gives us faith, because he knows we don't have the capacity for complete understanding.  We just accept the things we can't understand by faith.

The fact that I believe in and trust in God doesn't mean I don't have questions.  I struggle with why God allows so many horrible things to happen in the world.  I don't know why he does.  But I do know this:  God has a plan for all of humanity that is WAY bigger than I can comprehend.  I know that I fit into that plan, and I know what the outcome will be for me and all believers: HEAVEN. :)  What happens between now and then is not for me to know.  That's God's business.  I know that he's completely good, and that he has a good and perfect plan.  I trust that by faith, and leave the rest up to him.


I could write so much more about who God is to me personally, and what he's done in just my life.  It's amazing that such a big God would pay so much attention to, and heap so much love on, just me.  But he does.  And he's amazing. :)

I guess the most important thing about this awesome God of mine is that he loves you.  He loves me.  He loves all of humanity, far more than we could ever imagine.  In fact, the Bible says that God IS love.

Just trust that.


Linking with: Upward Not Inward, Deep Roots at Home, Raising Homemakers, We are THAT Family, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home