Esther in Haiti

I am back from Haiti!  It was a wonderful trip!  I will have more stories soon, but below is a devotion I shared with the ladies in our sister church.

I greatly enjoy ladies’ gatherings.  I enjoy meeting new people and sharing ideas.  It is a beautiful thing when women in different seasons of life can come together as the body of Christ and pray for each other.  While this ladies’ reception is a time of fun, God can certainly use it, right?  At our church in Little Rock we occasionally have times like these called “Women’s Chat Events.”  Chat is a term meaning to talk because we women love to talk!  Seven years ago I went to my first Women’s Chat Event.  I sat down at a table with two women I did not know:  Dinah and Liz.  God placed me at that table for a reason.  He would use those women in my life in the years to come.  Liz was there to talk to me and pray with me about being a part of my church.  Dinah would become a friend, mentor, and leader of many mission trips that I would take.  So in this very room today may be the start of some beautiful God-ordained friendships.

                My friends and I were praying about what we should share today and one of my favorite Bible stories came to mind:  Esther!  This story is fascinating to me for so many reasons:  it’s about a woman; its’ about a woman chosen by a king to be his queen; it’s about God’s people in another land and how they were going to be killed; it’s about courage and prayer and Esther risking her life to go before the king to plead for her people; it’s about God answering prayers and rescuing His people.  What a beautiful story!

                When King Xerxes was trying to make his decision amongst the young ladies of Persia, he was very interested in Esther. Verse 17 of Chapter 3 says that she won his favor and that he loved her.  So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen.  I’d like to remind you today, women of God, that you are chosen by a King:  The King of Kings, Lord of Lords, King Jesus.  You are part of a royal family. 

                The Lord longs to bestow on you a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair, as he said in Isaiah 61: 3.  In Zechariah 9: 16 we read, “The Lord their God will save them on that day as the flock of his people.  They will sparkle in his land like jewels in a crown.”  We that know Jesus personally are made righteous by Him.  We get the crown of salvation and shine for Him as a jewel in His crown. 

                1 Peter 2: 9 speaks of those who believe, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”  Just as Esther was chosen, beautiful, crowned and of royalty, so are you chosen, beautiful, crowned, and of royalty.

                In the book of Esther, God’s people were threatened of their lives by the evil works of the enemy through Haman.  Esther risked her life to go before the king and plead for the lives of her people.  She was encouraged to do so by Mordecai who persuaded her that perhaps she was in this royal position for such a time as this. She and the Israelites fasted and prayed, and she said if I perish, I perish.

                God answered their prayers and saved His people.  I recently experienced God’s healing hand and the answering of my prayers.  My niece was born with holes in her heart.  At the age of 4, it was decided by the doctors that she must have surgery to close one of the holes.  This hole hadn’t gotten any smaller for four years.  On the day of her surgery, the hole had grown too small to perform the procedure.  I believe that God closed those holes just as we had prayed.  I believe that God chose that time and that way to heal her to show my family what He could do.  He wants my family to know He is real and He is powerful!

                We have given you all jewels and a Bible verse to remember that you are precious to Jesus.  Remember in the midst of cooking for your family, cleaning your homes, and caring for your children that you are loved.  Let God’s love work in you and throughout you to enable you to shine with His love.  Remember you are a daughter of the Most High King:  a jewel in His crown.