Here we go, this week is my second instalment of the "What Am I Called To Be As A Woman" series! I thought long and hard thinking of what specific things we are called to do as females that men aren't necessarily and something that truly touched my heart was the story of Esther. I know, kinda cliche right? There are a few women in the Bible that are pretty famous and Esther definitely makes the list. During the summer I set off to read Esther and Ruth because I found it interesting that these were books in the Bible named after women, pretty cool huh? I'd watched movies and heard so much about how people loved the love story found in the book of Esther but reading the passages led me somewhere else. What impacted me the most was her courage!
I mentioned in last weeks post how important it was that the Proverbs 31 woman be clothed in strength and I think that courage can be linked quite perfectly. By clothing yourself with strength, you are arming yourself with the ability to act courageously! Sometimes messages of women being submissive in the Bible are taken to mean that they are weak but Esther is a great example that we don't have to be! Esther's story wasn't all magical, all the time. She was an orphaned girl who was taken to the court of a strange king because of the fact that she was beautiful. She probably asked herself, "God, why are you taking me to this new place? But He had a plan for her and this won her the kings' favour. So much so that the king provided her with special food and twelve months of beauty treatments (I'm sure those aren't much to complain about right ladies?) God was already doing His job in order to prepare her for what she was there for in the first place.
After hearing about the plot to kill the Jews, Esther was convinced to take action! She hasn't revealed to anyone that she was a Jew and she realized that if anything were to happen and people were to find out about her origins, she would perish along with her family! But she, instead of letting fear take over, said:
"I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish" - Esther 4:16
How incredible is that? She took a stand for what she believed in and risked it all! Would you do the same? She went to the king and already having his favour was offered anything, even half of the entire kingdom. Talk about God's favour being important right? I think this is something we can all take from this story. Finding God's favour in all that we do is the first step in allowing us to have full confidence in the fact that He has it all under control. Her strength and courage are so evident in her actions and she is granted her wish and the Jews are then able to defend themselves. Without her fearlessness, things would have gone very differently. Sure, we may not be in a situation where we need favour from a king when taking the step to protect our people specifically like it's illustrated in this book, but the same idea can be applied to our every day lives. As a woman you'll be faced with some tough situations and it'll be your choice to either stand up in courage or sit back and wait. How will you succeed? Through God's favour. The next logical question then is, how do I receive favour? I think the most important thing is bing faithful to God in all that you do.
Her story serves as encouragement in our daily lives to be courageous and speak up. Imagine if Esther would've kept quiet and said "Well it's against the law, I don't want to get in trouble with the king so figure it out yourself!"Think of all the situations you've gone through where you didn't speak up. How would they have been different if you let courage lead the way? We are called to be women who speak up for the things God is most passionate about and to, when necessary, stay quiet and fight in prayer. Being quiet doesn't mean not taking action. Sometimes our biggest fight is fought on our knees speaking to God. So, I encourage you all to try to be more courageous when the circumstance allows and ask God to show you His favour every day, always knowing that He's got your back!
No comments:
Post a Comment