At This Moment
- At May 8, 2012
- By Katie
- In Biblical Truths, Faith, Posts by Katie
0
Where are you at this moment?
Do you wonder why you are where you are?
Long ago, a beautiful young Jewish girl was snatched from her home, probably in the middle of the night. She was taken from the only family she had left, her uncle Mordecai’s home.
You see, the King of Persia at that time had tipped the bottle a few times too many and demanded his wife, the queen take off her clothes in front of the other men to show them just how gorgeous she was. I’ve always felt sorry for the bit part Queen Vashti played in this story. She had the nerve to stand up to her husband the King, one of the most powerful men in the world at that time.
Her answer was a resounding “ARE YOU KIDDING ME? NO!”
This set into play one of my favorite ever stories in the Bible. The King needed a new wife and he wanted a stunning one.
The story of Esther is inspiring. I can’t imagine what this young girl went through, being taken away from the traditions and faith of her life, and trying to survive in the King’s castle under a different cultural influence. While many have romanticized the story of her becoming a queen, it must have been tough on her watching hundreds of other women made beautiful alongside her every day and a different one led each night to the King…and each night a fresh new face being rejected by him.
It would also have been a struggle for a young Jewish woman to know she was being forced to sleep with someone outside of wedlock. Had she been rejected, she would have become a member of the King’s harem and her chances of having a normal Jewish family life lived with her beliefs would have been shattered.
But God had a plan for Esther and His people.
He was setting it into motion even on the night when Esther probably felt so alone and hurting, having been taken from the only family she had left and everything that was safe and secure in her life.
And Esther spent over a year there in a harem, being beautified to see if she “satisfied” the King’s pleasure.
I’m sure more than once she asked God why.
And after she was queen, she was hit again in the face with the possibility of her people being wiped off the face of the earth by the evil Hamen. She risked being executed herself if she admitted to the King that she was Jewish, a point she’d kept hidden up until then.
But her Uncle Mordecai proclaimed some extreme wisdom to her in the face of death.
If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14 NLT)
For you see, Esther had to go through the storms, she had to go through the trial, even when she had no idea what the outcome would be.
She had to trust God.
And she did. And she saved en entire race of people. And not just any people, but God’s chosen people! Esther could look back one day and see exactly why God allowed her life to happen the way it did…
Even when she was hurting.
What place are you in at this moment? Maybe God has YOU too in a place you don’t understand.
In a troubled marriage.
In a job you’re not crazy about.
Standing next to someone in a long line at the grocery store.
Maybe some day you too will be able to look back and see just why God has you where you are at this moment and how He’ll use it for good.
Won’t you trust Him and look for it?
Have you been in a confusing place in your life and seen how God used it for good? Tell us about it below! We’d love to hear the encouraging stories!
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