For a little background on how God sparked this idea in me, I am doing a bible study right now through the book of Esther. It is called Esther: Reflections from an Unexpected Life by Jennifer Spivey.
I love how God brings things into your life (or back up in your life) at the perfect moment when you need it. This book has been sitting on my shelf for probably 3-4 years, if not longer. I had never read it before I started it seven weeks ago. But it is fitting into my life exactly where it needs to. I guess you could call it....PROVIDENCE.
You see, that is the whole idea that the author puts forth in the book, about how God works through His providence in our lives. And I just love it.
I put this "devotion" together for a ladies card making class that we had at my church this past weekend.
I will preface it by saying that many of these ideas are straight out of the book, but some of them are my own. So, while things in quotations might not be exact quotes from the book, I am setting them apart in that way so that you can know what it the author's ideas and what are my own.
"For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" - Esther 4:14 ESV
"Dr. Augustus Hopkins defines providence as 'that continuous agency of God by which He makes all the events of the physical and moral universe fulfill the original design with which they were created.'"
This shows me that God is in complete control of His creation. He is continuously working to see His purposes come to pass. God created each person with a specific task in mind.
"God is always working in the life of a faithful believer, which means that God means for us to live extraordinary lives."
When we follow God and His calling in our lives, He can lead us to do things that we could never dream that we could do. Because we can't. Not on our own. Not without the power that we find in God alone.
"Of Esther Matthew Henry said, 'though the name of God be not in it, the finger of God is directing many minute events for the bringing about of His people's deliverance."
I have heard that Esther is the only book in the bible that does not expressly mention God by name. Even though His name is not in the book, we can see evidence of Him and His providence all throughout the book.
"As with what Esther was facing and with what is going on in our own lives, though there may be uncertainty, there is never uncertainty with the King of kings."
We can find our rest, our hope, our certainty in Christ Jesus alone. There is nothing else that can move us and move in us the way He does.
"Your walk with the Lord does not impact only you, but the people around you as well. As the Lord planted a seed in you, you can plant seeds in the people around you."
God does not intend for us to be people that keep to ourselves and ignore the rest of the world that passes by us each day. He intends for us to be lights in that world, in the lives of those people that we interact with every day.
I want to leave you today with a prayer that I have put together from two different prayers in the book: "Father, help us to understand today the importance of obeying You quickly, right where You have us. Help us to feel the urgency in our spirits. Give us Your view and let us experience Your passion. Les us follow You without fear, and let us be more than a blessing to the people You place in our paths: let us be Your instruments of rescue. Lord, help us to be bold in our witness - bold in the rescue of the people that You place in our path. Open our eyes to the people around us. Help us to see beyond ourselves."
I will leave you with that, but I do want you to remember one thing: God is guiding your live according to His perfect plan. Sometimes what we choose can mess up what God is working, but His plan will always come to fruition. We just need to be faithful to follow Him.
Perhaps He has brought us to this place in our lives "for such a time as this".
Thanks for reading.
In God,
Emily
I love how God brings things into your life (or back up in your life) at the perfect moment when you need it. This book has been sitting on my shelf for probably 3-4 years, if not longer. I had never read it before I started it seven weeks ago. But it is fitting into my life exactly where it needs to. I guess you could call it....PROVIDENCE.
You see, that is the whole idea that the author puts forth in the book, about how God works through His providence in our lives. And I just love it.
I put this "devotion" together for a ladies card making class that we had at my church this past weekend.
I will preface it by saying that many of these ideas are straight out of the book, but some of them are my own. So, while things in quotations might not be exact quotes from the book, I am setting them apart in that way so that you can know what it the author's ideas and what are my own.
"For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" - Esther 4:14 ESV
"Dr. Augustus Hopkins defines providence as 'that continuous agency of God by which He makes all the events of the physical and moral universe fulfill the original design with which they were created.'"
This shows me that God is in complete control of His creation. He is continuously working to see His purposes come to pass. God created each person with a specific task in mind.
"God is always working in the life of a faithful believer, which means that God means for us to live extraordinary lives."
When we follow God and His calling in our lives, He can lead us to do things that we could never dream that we could do. Because we can't. Not on our own. Not without the power that we find in God alone.
"Of Esther Matthew Henry said, 'though the name of God be not in it, the finger of God is directing many minute events for the bringing about of His people's deliverance."
I have heard that Esther is the only book in the bible that does not expressly mention God by name. Even though His name is not in the book, we can see evidence of Him and His providence all throughout the book.
"As with what Esther was facing and with what is going on in our own lives, though there may be uncertainty, there is never uncertainty with the King of kings."
We can find our rest, our hope, our certainty in Christ Jesus alone. There is nothing else that can move us and move in us the way He does.
"Your walk with the Lord does not impact only you, but the people around you as well. As the Lord planted a seed in you, you can plant seeds in the people around you."
God does not intend for us to be people that keep to ourselves and ignore the rest of the world that passes by us each day. He intends for us to be lights in that world, in the lives of those people that we interact with every day.
I want to leave you today with a prayer that I have put together from two different prayers in the book: "Father, help us to understand today the importance of obeying You quickly, right where You have us. Help us to feel the urgency in our spirits. Give us Your view and let us experience Your passion. Les us follow You without fear, and let us be more than a blessing to the people You place in our paths: let us be Your instruments of rescue. Lord, help us to be bold in our witness - bold in the rescue of the people that You place in our path. Open our eyes to the people around us. Help us to see beyond ourselves."
I will leave you with that, but I do want you to remember one thing: God is guiding your live according to His perfect plan. Sometimes what we choose can mess up what God is working, but His plan will always come to fruition. We just need to be faithful to follow Him.
Perhaps He has brought us to this place in our lives "for such a time as this".
Thanks for reading.
In God,
Emily
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