(Esther 2:1-8) After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and what had been decided regarding her. 2 Then the king’s attendants, who served him, said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king. 3 And may the king appoint overseers in all the provinces of his kingdom, and have them bring every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the harem, into the custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let their cosmetics be given to them. 4 Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti.” And the suggestion pleased the king, and he did accordingly.
5 There was a Jew at the citadel in Susa whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjaminite, 6 who had been taken from Jerusalem with the exiles who had been deported with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had deported. 7 He was the guardian to Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young woman was beautiful of form and face, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.
8 So it came about, when the command and decree of the king were heard and many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s palace into the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
I know a lot of believers who think that finding the right person to date and marry will fix a lot of their problems in life, and/or will fulfill and complete them. But we have to know that the only One who can do all of this is Jesus! Jesus is literally my soulmate!
The Lord created us because He wanted someone to love, and for us to love Him back in a close, personal relationship. Adam and Eve's sin introduced death (physical and spiritual) and separation from God. This is because He is holy and cannot have a relationship with sin. He always knew that He'd have come to earth in flesh to pay the cost for all sin, so that He could provide the way for us to be saved and reconciled to Him.
When we repent and make Him our personal Lord and Savior, we receive the indwelling Holy Spirit of promise, guaranteeing eternal life. But until that happens, we have this soul that is empty - a soul - that was and is intended only for God. Therefore, as long as it remains empty, people will continuously be searching for ways to fill that void.
When we become believers, God adopts us as His children, and will never disown us. Just as with the Israelites: parents could legally disown their own children, but they could not legally disown an adopted child! So Mordecai was being very loving and generous by raising Esther as his own.
Just as with Esther, things can happen to us that are outside of our control. Sometimes these are consequences of our own actions, sometimes they are consequences of other people's actions, and sometimes it is a result of just living in a fallen, broken world. Now, it definitely was not Esther's fault that her parents died, but God provided a wonderful surrogate in Mordecai! And it certainly wasn't her fault that she was taken away from Mordecai. This was completely outside of their control, but as we will see, God was going to use this in a mighty way. And through it all, Esther remained steadfast in the Lord.
When we do have sin in our lives, we need to confess those and get back to walking with the Lord. If we think that our way is better than God's, then do not blame God for the results! I just know from experience and from what the Bible tells us, that it is better to return to God and/or remain steadfast in God's will and trust that He will work things out.
When our actions are not the cause of struggles, consider these as test and trials. The solution is always to continue our walk with the Lord! And always know that God is in control, and that we can and should keep trusting Him in all things. He will allow us to be placed in circumstances or situations that may seem undesirable or uncomfortable, but God also places us in positions which can be used by Him as we allow God to work in our lives. Therefore, whatever happens, just continue living out His will. There are great blessings in remaining steadfast in the Lord's strength and wisdom, because He is sovereign and faithful.
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