Right Time. Right Place.

"For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” - Esther 4:14

What a profound ultimatum was given to Esther! 

But in  Esther we find a powerful message of courage and divine providence. Esther found herself in a powerful position as a queen. She used her position to save her people from a terrible fate at the urging of her cousin Mordecai, who is quoted above as well. In fact, till this day the Israelites celebrate Purim, to commemorate the defeat of Haman's plot to massacre the Jews as recorded in the book of Esther. 

Like Esther, have you ever felt you were in a certain situation for a reason? That perhaps, like Esther, God has orchestrated events in your life to fulfil a special purpose? It can be easy to feel insignificant and powerless, but God often places us exactly where we need to be for such a time as this. 

We may not face the same dramatic circumstances as Esther but we all encounter moments where our choices can make a difference. It maybe a time when speaking up could bring about justice and healing. it maybe an opportunity to extend grace and forgiveness to someone in need. Whatever the situation, we have the choice to step into our God given role and purpose and make an impact.  

Like Esther, we must have the courage to step out of our comfort zones and trust in God's provision. When faced with fear or uncertainty, let us remember Esthers example and lean on our faith to propel us forward. 

Then think about Noah and his family. They  must have felt pretty isolated. For forty days the rain fell, and the flooding persisted for months beyond that. But the scriptures remind us that God had not forgotten Noah—or even the animals. 

Sometimes when we feel like we’re left out, we are exactly where God needs us to be, so that we may be ready when His plan comes to fruition.

So, embrace the call of God on your life. Be bold and courageous, knowing that you are here for such a time as this.  

Praying Right

                                                    

                                                                           Image: Scout Life Magazine

Prayer is a pillar or actually the cornerstone of Christian life.  A typical prayer may include giving thanks, intercession, blessings, praise etc. And we may ask for help with the problems and challenges we face.

Tom Clark from Life, Home and Truth has this to say - 

..."do we always pray for the right things? Let me illustrate this with a paraphrase of a story by Peggy Porter on usscouts.org that I read many years ago.

Eight-year-old Gilbert had only been in Cub Scouts a short while when the scoutmaster handed everyone a block of wood, four tires and a sheet of instructions, and told them to go home and “give it all to Dad.” Unfortunately, the dad part was not an option for Gilbert, so the block of wood sat untouched for days as a befuddled Gilbert struggled to figure out what to do.

Finally, without a better option, Gilbert’s mom sat down with Gilbert one evening to guide him in his quest to build a pinewood derby car. Having no carpentry skills, she decided to just read the directions and let Gilbert do the work.

Doing their best to adhere to the rules and measurements, little by little a car began to emerge from the block. The final product was lovingly painted blue, and though a little lopsided, it was a work of pride for both Gilbert and his mom, as they waited for the big day.

The night of the race, Gilbert and his mother showed up ready to go. Gilbert’s smile promptly fell when he saw all the other cars—sleek and stylish, with fancy paint jobs, flames and designs that came from the father and son duos (probably with more work done by the fathers than the sons). Some of the other boys giggled when they saw Gilbert’s unattractive and somewhat wobbly car. This couldn’t turn out well . . .

The race was done in elimination fashion, meaning you kept racing until you lost. To everyone’s shock, the final race came down between Gilbert’s lopsided creation and one of the sleekest and fastest-looking cars there. Just as the race was to begin, Gilbert quietly asked if he could stop to pray. With a nod of the head from the scoutmaster, he took his little car and prayed. After some awkward moments he handed his car back and said he was ready.

Seemingly in defiance of all the laws of physics, Gilbert’s uneven block of wood wobbled down the track to cross the line a fraction of a second before the other car. The scoutmaster bent over to Gilbert and asked, “So you prayed to win, right Gilbert?”

The 8-year-old quickly responded, “Oh, no sir. It wouldn’t be fair to ask God to help me beat someone else. I just asked Him to make it so I wouldn’t cry if I lose.”

This story illustrates a powerful point.

When faced with a challenging situation, the young boy didn’t pray and ask God to fix the outcome for him. He asked God to help him accept the results. He simply prayed for strength.

Is it possible that in our own prayers as we face challenges, we spend too much time telling God the outcome we want, asking for victory or perhaps asking that He remove a trial and take away the pain? When what we should be doing is asking Him for the strength and dignity we need to get through the struggle with faith intact?

There is nothing wrong with beseeching our Father with our requests, but it is also important that we ask for the strength to endure what He knows is ultimately best for us.

86,400 Seconds

                                            

Man lives his or her life in moments, not in years, though we do celebrate birthdays. In actuality, life is lived in moments. We often miss fully living in the present moment because we are so busy rehashing the past or rehearsing the future. 

Our days are numbered as is our breadth. We could be happily alive one moment, and moved on the next, leaving our near and dear ones, our riches and all our material glory behind. The material outcome of each one of us is the same: ashes and dust and onto eternal life minus all we have known. Meanwhile I can either strike off the day or moments I have lived or add each day of my life to my treasure of days lived (Robert Brault).

Therefore, each moment of life is to be celebrated; with joyous gratitude and celebrating those moments with sharing a piece of ourselves. William Arthur Ward pointed this out and famously said

"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say 'thank you'?"

Keep in mind the old saying. “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is God’s gift, and that’s why we call it the present.”

Are You a Visionary?

These days we honor some thinker or scientist or politician saying "she (or he)" is a visionary. The meaning of that erm is thinking about or planning the future with imagination or wisdom and believes in it. They are full of knowledge which they apply and practice.

According to world norms, everyone is not a visionary. Only a few exceptional ones.

According to Christian terms, who are the visionaries? Well, everyone, has the opportunity. Few perhaps take it.

Visionaries are the people who look at the world as it is and see what it could be instead. A Christian visionary sees it as it is today, and what he will become beyond, and plans for it. S/He sees and believes that there is a life beyond death which they want to save and are ready to invest in it.

S/He researches, believes and plans. S/He shares. Christian visionaries are not afraid to pivot, and lead a life based on Christ's way. They believe there is a war out there, an unseen but not unfelt war. They pray for, and receive, discernment and wisdom from the Holy Spirit.

The question is can you and I become a visionary? Definitely so! WE WILL find that the knowledge we need to become one is in the Bible. We will read it, not out of duty or compulsion, or force of habit, but out of interest and belief to invest in our future. We will gain that knowledge, think about it and plan how to apply it. Pray for those plans or changes and go forward.

The Christian visionary will believe in the vision of a world shown in Revelations and want to be one of the 144000 or as close to one as possible. They will definitely want to be part of that world and have the courage and the will to invest in it. They will believe in discipline and obedience, correction and rewards. They will accept each as part of their training.

Not surprisingly, there is also a warning to the visionaries:

Revelations Chapter 22: 18-19 says 

18I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.19And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Therefore, let us not try and give our human understanding or interpretation to these words of knowledge (as many do today), but become a visionary based on the uninterpreted word of God, not using its interpretations to justify our ends but pivoting our ends to the unadulterated word of God.