This week, we're going back to the basics and diving into the very well known story of Esther, the queen of Persia.
As I was deciding what to write for this Back To The Basics study, I was given the suggestion by my friend Becca to do the story of Esther. I thought it was great idea because I had been wanting to dive deeper into a story with one of the women from the Bible for quite a while now.
But as I was thinking of this story, that I probably know by heart by now, I wasn't quite sure what to write. I mean, sure, there are tons of lessons you can pull from the story of Esther. But what could I write that hasn't been said before on the topic? It seems there are so many different studies on this one story.
I had to ask myself this question. What is something that I see in this story that can be an inspiration to girls in today's day? And In what ways can girls everywhere relate to Esther -- the Queen of Persia.
But I suppose we shouldn't start by calling her the queen of Persia. After all, she wasn't always a queen. And so in order to be able to relate to a queen...we must go back to the beginning of the story -- when she was nothing but an orphan girl.
The fact that Esther was an orphan can already give us a sense of being able to relate. She must have had a deep longing feeling to belong, as many of us do. And although she had her older cousin, Mordecai to take her in as his own, I'm guessing that feeling might of still been lingering around in her heart.
But Esther kept her head up. She was young, no older than sixteen years. And she was humble and caring and everything that I think would be an amazing role model for girls. But she wasn't perfect, as none of us are. She still had feelings and burdens and everything else because she was human.
Now, stress is something that we all experience. Stress, worry, anxiety. And I'm guessing that Esther must have been feeling all of those things when she was called to the palace because the King was looking for a new wife.
This must have turned Esther's world completely around. And several different emotions must have been going through her brain.
On one hand, she had been considered one of the prettiest girls in the kingdom. I would, personally, be flattered.
But on the other hand, I would hate to be chosen as someone's wife only for my beauty. And especially so sudden without even knowing the person or spending time with them. How could she be expected to marry the king if she didn't truly love him?
But it was the king's orders, and she must follow. So all of the prettiest girls, including Esther, were brought the citadel of Susa and after an entire year of cosmetics and beautifications, they were brought forth to the King.
Esther probably wasn't too excited when the King chose her to be the new Queen. She must now marry a man she didn't even love. But now she was the second most important person in all of Persia. Talk about pressure.
But, even though she didn't understand how this could be good or what part this situation played in her life, Esther stayed humble and kind and true to her character through it all.
Fast forward a bit and we find Haman, a man who was quite important in the kingdom, plotting to kill all Jews. But surprise, surprise, the Jews happened to be Esther's people.
And we won't go into too much detail because I'm pretty sure all of you already know this story...but Esther finds out about Haman's plot and she knows what she has to do. She has to save her people. And how is she going to do that? The only way is come to the king about it. But, hold up, anyone who entered the King's presence without being summoned would be put to death -- even the Queen!
So Esther is faced with decision. And a very hard one. She needed to save her people and she knew there
was only one way to do it. But she feared for her life. Esther tells her cousin Mordecai about her decision she must make.
And then Mordecai says something to her that must have hit her hard and definitely made her think. He said "perhaps you have been made Queen for such a time as this." ((some versions say "perhaps this is the moment you were created for))
Wow. All of this confusion and stress and big changes in her life and she comes to the realization that perhaps this was the reason she had to go through all of this. God knew that Haman would plot against her people. God knew that she was a humble girl true to her character. God knew that the Kind would find favor in Esther.
And God knew that Esther would be the perfect person to fulfill His perfect plan.
Sure enough, the King does't put Esther to death. Because he found such favor in her, was willing to grant whatever request she had, even if that be half the Kingdom.
Instead of going into deep detail of the rest of this story, I'll just conclude saying that, well, Esther saved her people.
She didn't know why had to marry the King. She didn't know she had to be faced with such a life threatening decision. She didn't know why she had to have so much pressure put on her. She didn't know what would happen when she went to the King. She didn't know what the near future held.
But God did.
I would absolutely love to hear from you, lovelies! What's you favorite thing about the story of Esther? Who is your favorite woman in the Bible? I'd love if you shared this with any girl you might think needs to hear this today.
xoxo,
