For such a time as this....





I am no Queen Esther.  In fact, I never thought of myself from her perspective.  Until I started to think about my purpose.

See, I couldn't relate to her story when I thought about her being young and beautiful, living in a royal palace.  But that isn't what the story is about. 

Esther was in the right place, at the right time, with the right gifts....and she chose to step into that, to own that moment.  Often we don't think that we are useful or talented.  The refrain is common, "What do I have to offer?"  There may even be times when we know that we have the right talent for a current need, but we pause and consider if we really want to get involved.  What is in it for us?  We look at ourselves and our experiences as unimportant, irrelevant even, to what we think we should be or do. 

Actually, I think that who we are, what we have experienced is completely relevant, because these are the parts of us that God uses. 

Kinda yucky, isn't it?  I don't like who I have been, and I certainly don't want to be her again, but those struggles can be helpful to others.  I don't think it is one of those, God sent this horrible illness into my life to make me a certain person.  I don't think God says, "Hey!  I need someone who knows despair so well that she can speak to the heart of another and give hope to the hopeless."  But he uses those broken shards of our spirits. 

And God using me continues the mending process for my own spirit.

Some find their lives forever shaped around something.  The recovering patient who runs out to treat those suffering.  It doesn't have to be a fulltime job, though.  We don't need to redefine our entire lives shaped by some tragedy.  In fact, I would say this is the exact opposite of what God would want.  We ought to define ourselves through his definitions. 

I am a daughter of God.
I am forgiven and a new creation.
I am loved and chosen.

When we do that, opportunities present themselves, a simple matter of God whispering, "For such a time as this..."  It is for moments like these that we have been freed, that we have been raised up, that we have been redeemed, that we have been chosen.

Yes, me, and you.  Chosen.  Necessary.  For such a time as this. 

Thank you, Father!

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