Never Mind Job . . . Give Me the Patience of Esther

I’ve always thought of Esther as my go-to girl when it comes to courage. There she is – married to a pompous king she met ONCE before he picked her for his bride. On top of that, if she wants to see him and he doesn’t want to see her – she is dead – literally. Then, she gets picked to save all the Jewish people from complete destruction. And the odds are not really in her favor. If she does nothing, she dies. If she tries and fails, she dies. Not trying just isn’t much of an option. Does she have courage? Oh, yes. But, I never thought about Esther as a poster child for patience!

Our world today is not geared to teaching us patience -or even encouraging it, for that matter. When’s the last time you actually baked a potato? In the real oven. . .with an “X” cut into the potato. . . wrapped in aluminum foil. . . like your grandmother did. That kind of baked potato. My son has NEVER baked one that way; he is a product of a microwave-it-and-run, don’t-make-me-wait, instant everything generation. He once (very loudly) wailed, “Mom! The microwave says it takes SIX MINUTES to bake this potato. Who has that kind of time?!” Well . . . you do, if you want to eat.

An aside – there’s something I want to share with you about Haman. I am not a fan. Never have been, but I am even less of one now that I know him a little better. He is almost a caricature and I just cannot think of evil, self-important, arrogant, ruthless Haman without picturing Lord Farquaad from Shrek. If you don’t know who he is, you really need to see the movie. A quick sketch - he is self-important, ruthless, evil, and in need of a genuine princess to help him attain the royal status he lacks. Lord Farquaad can’t even rule a fairy tale. He is also very, very, very short – so when he hops down from his gigantic horse, his fake long legs stay attached to the horse since they are simply a way to hide his tiny real legs. Haman seems to be just as much of a fraud to me – and he doesn’t belong in a palace any more than Lord Farquaad. Thankfully, Haman’s “palace time” is going to be quite limited. Back to what I started to say . . . .

I am seeing my favorite queen in a new way. For many, many years, I have known the story of Esther. And I always wondered why in the world, when King Xerxes was pretty much just saying, “Esther, name it and claim it. Anything you want – it’s yours,” that Esther’s response was, “Hey, how about you and Haman showing up for another banquet tomorrow?” What was THAT about?! Anyway - turns out, it was about God’s timing, not Esther’s. God’s plan, not Esther’s. So, God wants Esther to have a little patience and she agrees. If she hadn’t had the patience to wait and act when God wanted her to act, the outcome would have been much different. As it turns out, Esther’s willingness to be patient and wait on God’s timing saved the day – and the Jews.

What about you and me? What could God do with us if we just had the patience to WAIT? What if we had the discipline to do what He wants us to do when He wants us to do it – not when it seems convenient, not when it seems “right,” not just get it over with, but when God decides it is time? What if we studied and prayed and talked to God so often, so earnestly that we were really in tune with His plan for us? What if we had the patience of Esther? What could He do with your life? What might He do with mine?

Proverbs 15:18
A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.

Good News for Ladies Who Like to Eat Lunch!

The Women’s Ministry is planning a Downtown Lunch Bunch. The first meeting will be Friday, November 6th at 11:30 at Bandanas. After that, the group will meet the first Friday of each month at a different location. Come join the group and enjoy spending time with ladies who are as busy as you are! If you have any questions, contact Julie Merritt at 301-3995 or jmerritt@elmore.rr.com.

Prayer Team

The Women’s Ministry has long searched for a simple and confidential way to offer the women of EHBC an opportunity to submit prayer requests and feel sure that these requests are being prayed over. We have finally developed such a ministry which we are calling the PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING LINK, offered via a dedicated email account to which only the Prayer Team has access. We invite you to use it when you want this Prayer Team to intercede on your behalf with our Lord or when you have a praise that you want to share with someone who has been praying.

The Prayer Link email address is – ehbc.womens.prayer@hotmail.com.

At least three members of the Prayer Team will pray immediately upon receiving your request and will continue to pray daily for a week. At the end of that time, one of them will contact you via an email address that you have given us permission to use to learn the status of your prayer request. If we need to continue in prayer, we will do so. We want to be accountable to you.

You can be very comfortable sharing your requests with the women on the Prayer Team. There are ten women - all mature Christians - who will maintain strict confidentiality with all requests. It is very important that no one violates your confidence. If you do not want to be contacted after a week of prayer, you can include that in your prayer request.

Go to ehbc.womens.prayer@hotmail.com when you need someone to pray for you.

Why I Should Not Skip Bible Study

Today was not my very best day and I considered just skipping Bible study tonight. I’ve been dealing with a medical issue – aggravating, irritating, stressful, and a little scary, but relatively minor in the great scheme of things. After yet another trip to the doctor, staying home was sounding pretty good. Missing one week wouldn’t really matter. I’ve been four weeks in a row, after all. And I have learned a lot so far in our study of Esther – that has to count for something. Surely, I had “earned” a night off. Well . . . apparently not. I went anyway. And am I ever glad that I did.

Tonight we learned that it’s tough being a woman in the tight fist of fear. No kidding. I do not like to be afraid. I don’t watch scary movies because I don’t want the stuff in my head that nightmares are made of. I don’t ride anything that turns me upside down because it makes me panic. I don’t wander around outside in the dark because my imagination is too good at creating spooky things. I don’t go outside and check things out when the dogs bark because I don’t want a face-to-face encounter with whatever is lurking out there. If it scares the dogs, it will probably scare me. Clearly, I avoid things that frighten me. Why? Because I do not like to be afraid. At all. But, sometimes – I am. And nothing empties my head of all the right things to do like fear. There is nothing quite like a good jolt of fear to make me forget every Bible Drill verse I ever learned about trusting in God. I know this. From experience.

Didn’t know this until tonight – the most common command in the Bible has nothing to do with loving your neighbor, obeying God, or following any rules. It is this – do not be afraid! That applies to all of us, even a scaredy-cat like me. Fear not. Take courage. That doesn’t mean that our situation is not fearful; it means that God gives us courage in His presence. So, if Queen Esther can adopt the “if I perish, then I perish” attitude, knowing that chances were greater that she would than that she wouldn’t, surely we can face other situations that aren’t life-and-death by relying on God and His promises. Our fear may be real, but so is our God!

And to think that I almost missed a wonderful night of Bible study that seemed designed just for me. I suspect there are others who, like me, felt like it was a lesson tailor-made just for them.

Things I've Learned from Esther

When the new Bible studies began in the middle of September, I began the Esther study. Truthfully, I wanted to do “Me, Myself, and Lies,” but I work full time and it wasn’t possible for me to be somewhere else on Tuesday mornings. So . . . Esther it was. We’re now four weeks into the study. The things we are learning!! Apparently, those ancient Persians really liked to party. And eat. Banquet after banquet – for months at a time!

We are seeing Queen Esther in a whole new light – and we are just getting to the part where she cannot remain silent and decides to approach the king, even though she knows she could die. One of the things I have learned about Esther is that she listened to other people who could give her good advice and she learned from what others were doing. (I need to work on my Esther-ness.) She listened to Mordecai who acted as her adoptive parent. She listened to Hegai who knew what would please the king most. She paid attention. She made friends. She was beautiful. She received special treatment because of her beauty. But . . . she was NOT a snob!

Esther’s circumstances were no accident. How likely is it that an orphan Jewish girl (and perhaps not such a devout one, at that) would grow up to be the Queen of Persia when she could have been sitting in Jerusalem among other Jewish people?! And how likely is it that the same little orphan Jewish girl would become a queen and save herself and ALL of her people from annihilation? So, I’ve been thinking over the past four weeks as Esther’s story has been unfolding. What might God want to do with us? What could He do with us if we were willing to do what He asks of us? What would He do with you if you just offered yourself to Him just like you are, let Him provide the “beauty treatments,” and see what He has in mind?

So far, here’s what we have learned that is tough about being a woman:
• It’s tough being a woman in another woman’s shadow.
• It’s tough being a woman in a world where beauty is a treatment.
• It’s tough being a woman in a mean world.
• It’s tough being a woman thrown a giant-size weight.

If you aren’t participating in the Bible studies because you think you don’t have the time . . . rethink that. Whatever you gain from any part of the study is yours to keep! You just never know what God can do with a woman willing to follow Him. That woman might be you.