The Queen Gains Her Voice

This has been on my heart so much the past few days. We have a lot going on in the world around us. God is using this time to awaken His people to a stronger, bolder walk with Him. He doesn’t want us sitting around waiting for someone else to step up. When the Pandemic started, I felt deep in my bones that this was a last alter call by God. At least it was a wake-up call. He was letting us know, now’s the time. But the time for what? Thus, I have been studying Esther. You aren’t shocked are you? I mean, I did title this blog from one of the most famous verses regarding her story. Let’s dig a little deeper.

What was it that Esther did that was so amazing? What can I do that will have the same impact? It’s not like I am going to be chosen to be queen over anything. Heck, I can’t even be the princess in my castle. Kidding. #hottoddy and the kiddos love me… She endured 12 months of beauty preparation to meet the king. My thinking was it even worth it?! ha ha ha I mean, I like fixing up for my honey but geez... 12 months is a long time. I'm thinking it was a drag. Getting our glam on can be a lot of work and uncomfortable. While she was in the process of soaking in the perfumes and getting beautiful, she was getting poked, pinched, hairs pulled out, etc. Our beauty routines can be painful. Am I Right? Of course I am! I’m not a girly girl. Until a few years ago, makeup, hair, jewelry was not my thing. At least not to the point it is now. So going to the spa would not have been a big deal to me. That’s how I’m equating what Esther went through. She went through weeks of spa treatment that she didn’t want, nor did she ask for.

The story of Esther fascinates me. I can read it and be in awe of her walking in obedience every step. Let me be real honest here, I would not be that obedient. I don't have the courage Esther had. Well, I didn't but I learned how to find my courage. This morning my Pastor stated in his sermon, these people that we read about in the Bible had no idea they were going to have their story told in the Bible. What they knew was they had a God they served. Sometimes they walked it out in obedience and other times they didn’t. It’s taken me a few circles around in the desert to get to the place where I am comfortable enough to walk in what God has called me to do. I still have my doubts but I’m not gonna back down. AND, it has caused me to step up in the areas where I wasn’t walking in obedience. I mean, it’s not like I didn’t know where I was not obeying. Surely, you know what I’m talking about. You don’t? Okie dokie. It’s just me that didn’t obey. God is full of mercy and grace. He wants us to walk in obedience and He allows us to make the decision. Where is your relationship with Him? This is about the relationship and not religion. Does it help in your house when the kiddos are obeying you?

Esther was allowed to save her people, and she could have easily walked away, scared of the risk she would need to take. I would have walked, no, I would have run away. I’m not gonna lie. She was taken away from everything she knew, in a place she never could have imagined being. She was called away from her home and people to follow this journey that was laid out for her. You know what I do? I tell #hottoddy “I’m not leaving Cypress. I have lived here since I was 11 and I’m not going”. We all have different “kingdoms”. Your path and destination are not mine. Your journey will be unique. Where are you right now? Wherever you are in your journey, that is the kingdom. What’s your purpose? Your purpose is whatever God is calling you into at that moment. Is it to be a better wife? Is it to sow seeds of grace, mercy, and love, wisdom, and Christlike qualities to your children? Wherever it is, that very place is the piece of God’s kingdom He has entrusted to you. What? It’s not big enough? Did you want more? It will happen. Or maybe you are a Mordecai that is sowing into someone else to be an Esther chic. Mordecai saw what God had in store for Esther. He was the one that encouraged her to be there. Mordecai’s words proclaim truth, leaping off the page and stirring our hearts.

And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14b, ESV)

Think about it… we are like Esther in many ways. We are so busy trying to make sense of what the Lord’s will is in our lives, what our purpose is, that we are consumed with that instead of walking out each day in what He has instructed us to do. Sometimes it won’t make sense. Some days you won’t feel like you have what it takes to fulfill the purposes He has given you. It’s not about the purpose and being exact, it’s about an Esther chic and walking the walk. Just do what He has called you to do each day. Many years ago my purpose was all about changing diapers, cleaning house, cooking… being a mom and a wife. Not much there right? But then look at those babies now. God took the seeds sown into them and is using them where they are. What if I hadn’t fulfilled the purpose at that time? You know what, I wasn’t necessarily great at it but I did it. God cares more about our obedience. He honors us when we walk in obedience. He was grooming me all these years with all the wonderful stories of how cray cray I was to use in where we are headed with WRM. It wasn’t a waste even though at the time I thought it was.

This dumpster fire of a year is actually a year of transformation. It is the year God has my full ear. He sent me a Mordecai that spoke life and encouraged me. It’s the year that I realized my potential and my purpose. And it’s the year of 2020 vision where I can see all the things. All. The. Things. I’m scared and I’m excited. But I’m choosing to walk this out this time.

“I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners, I called you.”

I said, “You are my servant; I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God.

Isaiah 41: 9, 10

God chose you, you did not end up where you are on your own. He chose me. I did not end up here on my own. Yes, we all have choices to make and I’m sure God shook his head a few times when I made some doozies but He stayed with me. He is giving us a choice today, will we walk away or will we accept the purpose He has given us?

God gives you purpose in this very moment, in what you are doing, in this Kingdom. He has called you for such a time as this.