The River Church of New Jersey

In this sermon Jim had us focus on the time Esther spent preparing to be queen--12 months to be exact. It was during this crucial time that she was developing character traits that would help her later on when the real drama happened and she would have to risk her life. There have been many times in my life when I've wondered what God was doing and whether there would be a purpose to it. It is interesting to see how the human psyche responds to the trauma of uncertainty. If we have relatives who went through wartime or know a friend who suffered a loss there are many different coping mechanisms. Some people shut down and withdraw from everyone. Some people have crutches that give them a sense of stability and safety--whether it's being frugal, hoarding, or an addiction. Some people have an individualistic mentality and learn to only look out for themselves. 

Esther could have had all of these responses. She also could have thought of her circumstances as luck or let her beauty make her feel entitled and special.  After 12 months of beauty treatments I think I'd be lulled into a feeling of safety and luxury. I don't know if I'd be ready to risk my life for others or save a whole race of people from extinction. It's so easy when things are going good to think that God will just use someone else. But I have a feeling that Esther didn't think of it as a burden but instead a privilege to be used by God. Many times I've heard women (and myself!) say, "I don't know what I would do if...." and the fill-in-the-blank response is: if my husband died, if my child was born with Downs, etc. Basically, we don't want to think of the worst possible thing happening to us because of the inconvenience it would cause us and the huge responsibilty we would bear. So we predict our own cowardice, in a way. 

Oddly enough, right now our family is also on hiatus as Jason is looking for a new job and I am pursuing various work opportunities. We are going through our own character-building time where we face a great amount of uncertainty regarding God's will. I don't like to ask "what is God teaching me right now?" because sometimes we don't know until much later or maybe never. I am convicted by Esther because her time off wasn't time spent watching tv, surfing the internet, or scrapbooking. She was actively preparing herself mentally, emotionally, and spiritually so that when God did put things into place for her to act she was able to rise up to the challenge. 

I came across this essay question recently: "'Tough challenges reveal our strengths and weaknesses.' This statement is certainly true; adversity helps us discover who we are. Hardships can often lead us to examine who we are and to question what is important in life. In fact, people who have experienced seriously adverse events frequently report that they were positively changed by their negative experiences."

This is something the secular world acknowledges.  Women like Esther and Mary would be responsible for the fate of a great many people beyond their own existence. We can be grateful that they didn't shut down or withdraw when faced with monumental challenges and uncertainty. Instead, they foreshadowed the greatest act of courage in Jesus and his death on the cross. Can we, too, have this kind of courage and resolve? Thankfully, God gives us the times in the desert to prepare.