I have been reading a lot in Esther and in Ruth lately. I am amazed at the amount of encouragement I have received from their stories. I feel that right now in my life God is restoring my strength as a woman. He is helping me through a time of significant transformation. This time of rebuilding who I am in Him has been painful, but I am confident that His plan will be revealed to me through it. Today, I would like to talk about some of the lessons I am learning through these virtuous women.
Esther is my favorite female character in the Bible. Her strength, courage, and boldness inspire me to be like her. Esther was an incredibly beautiful Jewish woman. Her parents died when she was very young, so she was raised by Mordecai, her cousin. When King Xerxes' wife refused Him, one of his nobles suggested that the King send out an edict that brought many young women to the palace for a chance to become the new Queen. Esther was one of the women chosen. The Bible says, in Esther 2, that Esther found favor with the King's council, and she underwent twelve months of beautification treatments before she could be presented to King Xerxes. She also found favor with him. Esther's cousin, Mordecai, came to her with news that one of Xerxes officials was trying to kill all the Jews in the land. It was Esther who went to King Xerxes (which is punishable by death if not summoned by him) and requested that her people be saved. She even said, "If I perish, I perish" (Esther 3:16). The King spared her life and her people. There is a part of the story where Mordecai is asking Esther to approach the King. He says to her that she was placed in her situation of power "for such a time as this" (Esther 3:14). God gave her favor with the King in order to save her people.
Ruth was a Moabite woman. She lived with her husband and his family. She was very close with her mother-in-law, Naomi. Naomi's husband died, and then Ruth's husband died, and then Ruth's sister-in-law's husband died. The three women were left with nothing. Naomi urged both of her daughters-in-law to go back to their families, and hopefully then, they would remarry. Ruth's sister-in-law complied, but Ruth was faithful to stay with Naomi. Ruth and Naomi went back to Moab, where they me Boaz, a relative of Naomi's husband. Ruth went out into his fields and gathered the leftover harvest. Boaz was pleased with her faithfulness and her desire to be a servant. At the end of the story, Boaz marries Ruth and restores her family's home.
I want to be like Esther. I want to sacrifice myself for others, step out in authority and boldness, and walk in favor everywhere I go. I want to be like Ruth, serving others and finding restoration. I want to be like Naomi; stripped of everything I have (even though it is hard) in order to inherit the blessings God has for me. I want to be a virtuous woman, striving to walk out God's plan for my life. I want to see what He sees in me. I want to get so lost in Him that people have to search His heart to find mine.
The past few weeks have been extremely difficult. God really is stripping me of everything I rely on in order to find Him. My heart has been shattered and stepped on. My emotions have been overwhelming. I have been depressed and bitter. My self-esteem has been crumbling beneath me. My computer crashed. My iPod broke. My finances are a mess. I have been trying to keep my head above the water, so I don't drown in circumstances. I have found myself crying out to God to rescue me, but for a while he has been so silent. God, what should I do?
The encouragement I have received from Him is to continue to be faithful. God wants me to be faithful to Him and where He has placed me. Like Esther, I am where I am for such a time as this. Like Ruth followed Naomi, I want to follow Jesus. Like Naomi, I want to press on in the midst of the trouble. I am learning to praise God in the middle of hell, to never give up hope, to remember that He loves me. As Oral Roberts would say, "God is a good God!"
I am being refined by fire. God, may I come out of this more beautiful than I have ever been before!
