If I had to title this post anything other than “Esther’s Story,” I’d have to go with “The Big Picture.” Here’s why:
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I’m a summer baby. Lazy days, zero schoolwork, and gorgeous warmth do wonders for my spirits. Swathes of golden sunshine draping my room, the sweet touch of water on my skin, the giddy relief of realizing my next Latin class isn’t until mid-August—mm, I shiver with delight. For me, summer is a time when I can let go and let God, as some people like to say. It’s a time when fears pale, comfort zones shatter, and the Lord’s beauty steals my breath away.
The summer of 2010 was no exception. My friends became my siblings through baptism, my heart swelled with the presence of God, and my faith soared to new heights. It was truly amazing. At church camp, God breathed new life into the words of 2nd Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
What weakness? you ask. I’m terrified of public speaking. And yet, halfway through camp, I gave my testimony.
Like I said—it was truly amazing. Up until a few years ago, I wouldn’t even talk in Bible class. Reading a verse aloud nearly made me panic. That’s how scared I was. And yet, God used my weakness, my fear, to manifest His power all the more greatly. I experienced the exhilaration of God’s power in me! It was all God. And that was wondrous.
Needless to say, I entered the school year on a major spiritual high. I felt more alive and me than I ever had in my life. For several weeks after summer ended, it seemed as if I saw God in everything!
But that changed. The stresses of school and friends and growing up sank their claws into my heart, and I couldn’t shake them loose. I slacked off on reading my Bible. I turned to a hundred different things for comfort—writing, TV, music, books—all in search of the peace I yearned after in my heart.
Before long, I was exhausted, drained from school, piano, TV, and worry. Nothing seemed to go right, and everything irritated me. I was a barrel of gunpowder waiting to explode. And all the while, I kept blaming God.
“God, why’d you give me such an annoying family? God, why’s my school have to be so hard? God, what’d I do to deserve this punishment? Why can’t You make everything right?”
Well, all this kept building inside me, all the way through last semester and into the New Year. Then, in January, I went to a girls’ conference. Incidentally, it was the same girls’ conference that Ruth mentioned in her story (see last post). The conference was truly life-changing—I expected nothing less, having attended the past 2 years. We talked about “The Big Picture”—understanding that we are God’s masterpieces, and that He had prepared amazing things for us to do. No matter our ages, looks, backgrounds, or stories.
In one of our classes, the teacher referenced Psalm 55:22, “Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.” Her point was simply this: Just because we are Christians doesn’t mean that we’ll never feel the ground tremble. Yes, the mountains may shake and the seas roar, but God will never abandon us. He’ll be there with us, through the good and especially the bad. He is a God of comfort, as one of my dear friends pointed out, and how can He comfort us in times of happiness and perfection? We “feel the ground tremble” for a reason. We endure pain and loss and frustration in order to draw closer to Him, to mature in our faith, and, ultimately, to become the people He created us to be.
Think of Joseph. This is something else we talked about at the conference. He had 11 brothers, and 10 of them turned against him, threw him into a well, and sold him into slavery. He lost his freedom, endured false accusations, and spent years in jail for something he didn’t do. Sounds pretty horrible, doesn’t it? But guess what? God was with him. He remembered Joseph, and elevated him above all of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. Because of Joseph’s trusting, willing heart, God used Him to save Egypt and the surrounding countries from a terrible famine. Joseph’s brothers—the very ones who had sold him into slavery—bowed at his feet and feared death. But you know what Joseph said? “And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you…So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God” (Genesis 45:5,8).
WOW! I’d heard the story of Joseph dozens of times, but never before had it come alive like it did that day at the girls’ conference. If God could take a slave and prisoner and turn him into the second greatest man in all of Egypt, imagine what He can do with you!!!
This is how I felt listening to the teachers and keynote speaker at the girls’ conference. I felt God moving in me, speaking to me. Telling me to trust Him and follow Him. To offer Him a willing heart. The words of my life verse, Esther 4:14, came alive to me all over again: “And who knows but that you have come into royal position for such a time as this?”
So, I don’t know how God is going to use my troubles and stresses to change lives. I don’t know what good is going to come of this, or what amazing thing He has planned. But I do know this: as long as I have a willing heart, anything’s possible.
I know winter is tough. It’s long, and dull, and stressful to the breaking point. So often we forget that, without winter, we’d have no spring.
Spring is coming. The season of life and joy and beauty is on its way. It may seem like forever away…but it’s on the way. In the meantime, consider the words of God in Isaiah 28:28—“Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever.”
I’m a summer baby. Lazy days, zero schoolwork, and gorgeous warmth do wonders for my spirits. Swathes of golden sunshine draping my room, the sweet touch of water on my skin, the giddy relief of realizing my next Latin class isn’t until mid-August—mm, I shiver with delight. For me, summer is a time when I can let go and let God, as some people like to say. It’s a time when fears pale, comfort zones shatter, and the Lord’s beauty steals my breath away.
The summer of 2010 was no exception. My friends became my siblings through baptism, my heart swelled with the presence of God, and my faith soared to new heights. It was truly amazing. At church camp, God breathed new life into the words of 2nd Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
What weakness? you ask. I’m terrified of public speaking. And yet, halfway through camp, I gave my testimony.
Like I said—it was truly amazing. Up until a few years ago, I wouldn’t even talk in Bible class. Reading a verse aloud nearly made me panic. That’s how scared I was. And yet, God used my weakness, my fear, to manifest His power all the more greatly. I experienced the exhilaration of God’s power in me! It was all God. And that was wondrous.
Needless to say, I entered the school year on a major spiritual high. I felt more alive and me than I ever had in my life. For several weeks after summer ended, it seemed as if I saw God in everything!
But that changed. The stresses of school and friends and growing up sank their claws into my heart, and I couldn’t shake them loose. I slacked off on reading my Bible. I turned to a hundred different things for comfort—writing, TV, music, books—all in search of the peace I yearned after in my heart.
Before long, I was exhausted, drained from school, piano, TV, and worry. Nothing seemed to go right, and everything irritated me. I was a barrel of gunpowder waiting to explode. And all the while, I kept blaming God.
“God, why’d you give me such an annoying family? God, why’s my school have to be so hard? God, what’d I do to deserve this punishment? Why can’t You make everything right?”
Well, all this kept building inside me, all the way through last semester and into the New Year. Then, in January, I went to a girls’ conference. Incidentally, it was the same girls’ conference that Ruth mentioned in her story (see last post). The conference was truly life-changing—I expected nothing less, having attended the past 2 years. We talked about “The Big Picture”—understanding that we are God’s masterpieces, and that He had prepared amazing things for us to do. No matter our ages, looks, backgrounds, or stories.
In one of our classes, the teacher referenced Psalm 55:22, “Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall.” Her point was simply this: Just because we are Christians doesn’t mean that we’ll never feel the ground tremble. Yes, the mountains may shake and the seas roar, but God will never abandon us. He’ll be there with us, through the good and especially the bad. He is a God of comfort, as one of my dear friends pointed out, and how can He comfort us in times of happiness and perfection? We “feel the ground tremble” for a reason. We endure pain and loss and frustration in order to draw closer to Him, to mature in our faith, and, ultimately, to become the people He created us to be.
Think of Joseph. This is something else we talked about at the conference. He had 11 brothers, and 10 of them turned against him, threw him into a well, and sold him into slavery. He lost his freedom, endured false accusations, and spent years in jail for something he didn’t do. Sounds pretty horrible, doesn’t it? But guess what? God was with him. He remembered Joseph, and elevated him above all of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. Because of Joseph’s trusting, willing heart, God used Him to save Egypt and the surrounding countries from a terrible famine. Joseph’s brothers—the very ones who had sold him into slavery—bowed at his feet and feared death. But you know what Joseph said? “And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you…So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God” (Genesis 45:5,8).
WOW! I’d heard the story of Joseph dozens of times, but never before had it come alive like it did that day at the girls’ conference. If God could take a slave and prisoner and turn him into the second greatest man in all of Egypt, imagine what He can do with you!!!
This is how I felt listening to the teachers and keynote speaker at the girls’ conference. I felt God moving in me, speaking to me. Telling me to trust Him and follow Him. To offer Him a willing heart. The words of my life verse, Esther 4:14, came alive to me all over again: “And who knows but that you have come into royal position for such a time as this?”
So, I don’t know how God is going to use my troubles and stresses to change lives. I don’t know what good is going to come of this, or what amazing thing He has planned. But I do know this: as long as I have a willing heart, anything’s possible.
I know winter is tough. It’s long, and dull, and stressful to the breaking point. So often we forget that, without winter, we’d have no spring.
Spring is coming. The season of life and joy and beauty is on its way. It may seem like forever away…but it’s on the way. In the meantime, consider the words of God in Isaiah 28:28—“Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever.”
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So, there you go. Ruth and Esther's stories are different, yet quite similar. They both symbolize that your faith in the winter can be just as prominent as in the summer. Winter exemplifies the sweet promise of spring. Thus, those cold, dreary days can be a breathtaking experience, only if you allow The Photographer to take a beautiful picture.
*A special thank you to our favorite Giant's fan who has helped us through this challenging, yet beautiful season of winter. :)
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