Meditation:I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish. (Esther 4:16)
Explanation:
Think life's been unfair to you? Esther's parents had died. They had been among the Jewish captives led away from Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar and settled in Persia. She knew slavery and oppression. As an orphan, she was raised by her older cousin, Mordecai. But she refused to become bitter even though she had been broken and depleted by life.
Esther demonstrates that a person with a past can touch God in the present and believe Him to give her a future. Esther didn't allow the misfortunes in her life to strip away her God-given identity. Not everyone does that. Some people who love God remain bitter and broken. But everyone has the opportunity to touch God and believe for restoration in their areas of depletion.
One of the qualities that made Esther extraordinary is that she had a great inner confidence that gave her the ability to handle pressure. When Esther went into the king's presence, where she was up against 127 beautiful virgins who were vying to become queen, she "requested nothing."
The other girls appealed to the king with ornaments and outward beauty only. Esther went with what was inside her—an inner strength that radiated beauty and gave her favor (Esther 2:15).
Although Esther was the least outwardly adorned, what made her stunningly beautiful was "the hidden man of the heart,...even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price" (1 Peter 3:4). Esther was as strong on the inside as she was beautiful on the outside. And because of that, she could handle a hostile environment because she knew who God had made her to be. When the moment came for her to take a heroic stand to save the Jewish people, years of preparation led to a determined date with her destiny.
Don't miss your moment. Invest in what God has put inside you. Invest in what lasts all through life and on into eternity! God is preparing you! He is transforming you into a person who will rise above bitterness and be overflowing with God's love. He is establishing in you the ability to withstand pressure and to have an inner radiance that comes from a relationship with Him.
Ask God to reveal to you what it is that He has as your destiny in life. Ask Him to give you a glimpse of the future He has already prepared for you. It's a future bathed in the glory of God, and it's a destiny worth pursuing with your whole heart.
1 comment:
Good words.
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