Today's Devotional Thought
April 22, 2010 by Wendy Foreman
Obedience Like Esther's
I’ve begun studying Esther and there is one thing in her story so far that has just stuck out to me. It is the fact that she was an ordinary woman. She was a Jew and they had been exiled from Judah and were living in Persia. The king in Persia decided that he wanted to marry Esther and while they were married it was plotted that all the Jews would be killed. Now, understand the King was not aware that Esther was a Jew. So He didn’t know that this would affect her in any way. Esther put her life on the line to go before the King and plead for Him to spare the lives of her people.
I obviously left a lot out of the story and I am sure that I will share more as I continue my study of Esther. I wanted to make a point today about how Esther appeared to be very ordinary just living her life for the Lord. I believe that Esther was a faithful servant of God. I believe that she lived her life in an obedient fashion and desired to honor the Lord in every way. As I think about Esther’s life and how things played out for her to be placed in the Kingdom and how she put her life on the line to save her people, I began to wonder about our lives as believers in Jesus Christ.
How do we live our lives? Do we live them in such a way that we would be listening and then open to what the Lord desires for us to do? I remember when the decision was made to leave our previous church. I was praying to the Lord and I told Him that I would go anywhere and I would do whatever He had for me to do. I felt like Moses at the burning bush. Where Moses finally says “Here I am Lord.??? My life had changed so quickly and I felt scared and unsure of what our future would be. We’ve all been there. You face uncertainty and you kick into survival mode and you start praying and telling God you’ll do anything go anywhere just please take care of me or us. What is sad is I wonder if after our lives get good again and we feel comfortable do we still have that same desire and passion to do whatever the Lord has for us?
We don’t know too much about Esther’s life before she becomes queen. We do know that her parents are deceased and she is living with a family member. She has a deep faith in the Lord and is living in Susa the capital of Persia. We really don’t know if her life is terrible or if she has been praying for a change or a new direction in her life. All we do know is that she was obedient to the Lord. I am sure she had no idea when she was competing for queen that she would actually become queen and then save her people. She followed the Lord and His leading and was obedient at every turn. God has a purpose for the situation which he often times places us in. We see that with Esther. God had a plan and a purpose for her being the Queen of Persia. Take time to read the book of Esther and study this ordinary woman that God uses in an extraordinary way.
As a woman who longs to please the Lord, I want to be an Esther. I want to live my life in obedience with my ears open so that I can hear the Lord’s leading. I hope that is your desire today as well.
December