Devotional - November 8, 2006

God has truly blessed our ministry like never before as of late, and as we reach new levels of ministry, the challenges and temptations that go along with these new levels grow as well.  As I sat on the church pew waiting for one of the services to begin recently, I opened my Bible with the intention of reading whatever I opened to.  My eyes fell to Esther 2:15.  The story of Esther is familiar to all of us, but something about this verse caught my attention.  Esther was a Jew that was to be in a beauty pageant of sorts to determine who would be the next queen for King Ahasuerus, a non-Jew.  She was brought to the palace along with many other women to prepare for 1 year for the time they would be presented to the King.  Now, in modern terms, this "preparing" would be the maximum spa treatment: manicures, pedicures, mud baths, facial peels, deep-conditioning treatments, nasty-tasting smoothies jam-packed with healthy stuff and, well, you get the picture.  These women could have anything they desired that they thought would help them catch the King's eye.  Now this brings me to verse 15.  When it was Esther's turn, "...she required nothing but what...the...chamberlain...appointed.  And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her."  Wow!  That verse leaped off that page and landed right in my heart!  Now, you may be wondering what all the excitement is about, so let me explain.  Think about it.  Esther had confidence in the fact that God had a plan for her life that would be fulfilled with or without man's wisdom or planning.  She wasn't sitting around biting her fingernails thinking, "Oh, dear!  Should I wear blue eye shadow or brown?  I wonder if the King would like that red dress or the green one?  Gold jewelry or silver?  Load up with perfume or don't wear any?"  No.  Esther simply trusted in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to promote her to the place He intended and that's exactly what He did!  She became queen and you can move over to 4:14 and see where her uncle says that she was brought to the palace for a purpose, and that was to save her people, the Jews.  Well, of course that's what happened!  God had a plan, he placed favor on Esther's life, and as a result, she was able to save an entire nation and change the course of history!  The cool part is that God has a plan for every human being on earth.  He has a plan for your life and mine.  He has a plan for our ministry.  And what we have to do to reach the destiny that God has for us as children of the King (worry-free, I might add) is walk according to His Word, which is His will.  I Thessalonians 5:24 says, "Faithful is he who called you, who also will do it."  Rest in the fact that the One who called you will do the work as you walk in His ways. 
 
Walk forward in favor, my friend.  The God who created the universe is on your side!
 
Until next time, may God richly bless you as you continue to serve Him!  Remember, the best is yet to come!
 
In Christ,
Sonya