Greetings dear Faith Family!
For the last weeks we have been walking with some of the women of the Bible. It has been a rich time, discovering that although the culture of the time tried to control and hold back our gender, there were those who rose to the challenge and were used by God to continue forwarding his plan for us! We concluded recently with some time with the Mary’s of the Bible, honoring and reflecting especially on the mother of Jesus.I want to share one more woman with all of you, even though there were more we did not talk about, like Miriam, Martha, Bathsheba, Hannah, Leah…. Esther is one of the women in the Bible who stood strong and provided a cultural lesson for us today, even in our current state. A special lesson of unity and taking care of each other as well.
Esther has her very own book in the Bible, and it is intriguing and a good read! She was basically an orphan, whose family had stayed behind when the Israelites began returning to their land. Her family integrated into the Persian community around them and eventually was chosen by the King to be his next Queen. It’s a beautiful story, deep and interesting.
A leader in the King’s deploy was found to be manipulative and dark, this knowledge held by Esther. Haman worked to justify the slaughter of Esther’s people, causing the King to issue a decree and forcing Esther to make a decision to bring her identity to the King in order to save her people. She had a plan to expose Haman and it worked almost flawlessly. The King supported Esther and allowed her to develop a plan to save her people.
Still another woman whom God used to carry out his plans. Another example of how God is always working with purpose and having salvation for all in mind.Sometimes it’s easy for us to think that God is all about perfection and when we fall short, we can’t possibly fit into the plan. We especially use this theory to beat ourselves up or hold ourselves back from experiencing God’s goodness. This entire series in looking at the Old Testament and beyond through the eyes of women, knowing the culture around them, reminded us that no matter what happens in our life walk, God is always present and working to bring his plan to reality. When we open our hearts to consider his plan, well, God can still make it happen!
And oh….here’s to girl power!
Be blessed and safe through harvest family!
