Two of Sarabeth’s books are part of the Adventures with Rooney Cruz series by Bible Belles. The two books that have been released are Esther and Hannah. We read them over and over again. So the stories of these two women have been deeply ingrained in my brain lately. They both lived an incredible legacy life. Today we’ll look at Esther, and tomorrow, Hannah.
The Legacy Life of Esther
As a young Jewish girl, Esther is swept into the palace as the king was searching for a new queen. As a young girl, Esther was humble and willing to take advice from others. Because she followed the advice of others, she caught the eye of the king and was made a queen.
This put her in a unique situation. The King was unaware that Esther was Jewish. One of his officials had a deep-seated hatred for Esther’s uncle Mordecai. Because of this, he convinced the King to sign a decree that would cause the death of all the Jewish people in the land.
Mordecai heard of this new decree and went to Esther. He told her that she needed to do something. But Esther was scared. In that time, she had to be summoned before the King to enter into his presence. It had been quite a while since the King had summoned her. To enter his presence without being summoned could lead to her own death.
Despite her fears, Esther went to her servants and asked them to pray and fast with her.
Esther waited for three days.
She sought God.
Listened to His voice.
And then she formulated a plan.
That plan involved inviting the King and the evil official, Haman, to a dinner. After a couple of dinners, Esther explained to the King what Haman had done. The King was angered and allowed a decree to be written that would allow the Jews to fight back.
Because of Esther…
Because of Esther, God saved His nation.
Because of her willingness to be used by God despite her fear.
Esther laid the groundwork for all of us to understand how to do life when we’re afraid. Even beyond recognizing that sometimes we are here for such a time as this (perhaps the main and only take away I hear taught in this story). We can move despite and in spite of our fear. God will sustain us as long as we are looking to him for answers.
Bible Belles also considers Esther a teacher of patience. Rather than reacting and acting as soon as she heard the news, Esther paused. She paused and she sought God. And because of that, she was able to move in a way that saved her people.
When we pause and seek God, we move into his plan. When we do it afraid, we give him room to move.
Where do you need to pause and seek God today? What are you being asked to do afraid? How is God sustaining you through that fear?
