Esther- 5 Takeaways

 

On Mother's Day, my dad asked me to name a female hero in the Bible- I couldn't name just one so I said Esther, Ruth, and Hannah. Ruth was because of her willingness to leave the comfortable to go to the uncomfortable and Hannah for her strength and faithfulness.  It's been a while since I shared but thought this was a good starting back point.

Being single and not a mother (although I have been called mom many times in the last 24 years in the classroom), it's sometimes hard for me to find a woman in the Bible to relate to.

The past few years, with my job and other circumstances, I have been looking more and more at Esther and the idea that I have been placed where I am "for such a time as this". 

Esther's life shows so many lessons but there are 5 that have stuck out to me.

1) Bravery- It is documented in the the book of Esther that if she were to go to the king uninvited it could mean death. Even so, she took the step forward in spite of the obstacles in front of her.

2) Selflessness- Maybe to some it looks like self- preservation, after all, she had not told anyone of her religious heritage, but she still had to make a decision and the moment she said that she would go to the king, even if it meant she would perish, it moved from self-preservation to selflessness.

3.) Dreaming and asking big- She took that step and because of her bravery she found favor in the king's eyes. That gave her the opportunity to ask for a simple dinner and then move into the bigger ask. Even Haman dreamed big- only his dream ended up being bestowed on his mortal enemy. Then she had to dream and ask even bigger in order to save her life as well as those of her fellow Jews.

4.) Restoration- By Esther taking the steps she did, there was restoration among her people. It's the celebration of God's deliverance and protection for His people and should bring about freedom, joy, and a lack of fear.

5) The importance of listening to wise counsel. Mordecai had his finger on the puls of what was taking place in the city. he listened, he acted, he shared, he prayed, and he fasted. Then he reached out to Esther who he had raised and counseled along the way. She could have listened to what he had to say and ignored it. But, because of his counsel in the past, she listened and acted and in the process saved the lives of her people.

So, how does this apply to me (and maybe you)? Since this has been pretty long, I will hold off on those until the next blog :)