DAY 17
DATE: 1/17/2013
Good Morning! My name is Nikki Butcher and I was asked to give you a devotional thought from the book of Esther chapters 2 and 4.
KEY VERSE:
Esther 4:14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
REFLECTIONS:
Wow! Who needs a Hollywood movie when we have these kinds of stories right at our fingertips! Talk about exciting and suspenseful! An emotional rollercoaster of events takes place in this short book of Esther. My focus today is going to be on Esther 4:14. It sort of stuck out to me as I faced an uncomfortable situation myself this week, but on a much, much smaller scale than Esther. You see, Esther was chosen Queen to accomplish a specific task for a specific purpose, at a specific time.
I have a neighbor that I’ve been praying for recently. Praying for her salvation and a situation in her life. Praying that God would PLEASE somehow open a door for me to be able to step in to her life and talk with her about “the situation.” Well, wouldn’t you know that God swung the door wide open for me this week and presented me with the most awkward and uncomfortable way to talk with her! Without getting into much detail, this was not the way I had envisioned this conversation to be. I actually tried to convince my husband to call her and do the job for me. But, he declined and told me this would be good for me! Look back up at the first part of vs. 14. If I held my peace at this time, God would have given the job to someone else. I would have been robbed of a blessing! God knew my neighbor’s trial and for some reason was answering my prayer in, what seemed to me, a very odd way. Since this wasn’t the way I would prefer to handle it, I was trying with all my might to avoid it.
After much prayer throughout the day, I decided to trust the Lord and follow his lead. The last half of vs. 14 says “and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.” I stepped out on faith, not able to see the end result. And guess what? My conversation with the neighbor went far better than my faithless, little mind could have imagined. I am trusting that the Lord has a plan. He wanted me to obey. He chose me for the job and He chose the time for me to do it. But what if I didn’t obey when the door was opened for me? What if I would’ve had my husband do the job for me? What if I would have told God “this cannot be the right time!” Or “seriously, God, is this really the way you are asking me to do this?”
APPLICATION:
When God puts you in a specific location, asks you to do a specific task, and tells you when to do it. Do it! God has a plan. Obey, my friend; the rewards are amazing and it is so gratifying to know that you have obeyed the Lord. If you decline God’s prompting, who knows the consequences? And the reward will surely go to someone else. Isn’t it funny how we can make things seem so large and then find out they were really so small? I wonder if God gets a laugh out of it? His ways are so beyond ours!
Thank you for being a part of the Route 66 Challenge. Thanks for reading, and you have a blessed day.
In Christ,
Nikki Butcher
SAVED: Around age 9
FAVORITE BIBLE CHARACTER: David
FAVORITE BIBLE CHAPTER: Psalm 27
FAMILY: husband Jason, children Madison, Haley, and Cade
OCCUPATION: Stay at home wife and mom
HOBBIES: Family, reading, shopping, cleaning J
AREA OF MINISTRY AT CHURCH: 1st-3rd grade Sunday School, Ladies Ministries, Nursery, Missions Committee
DREAM VACATION: Israel