Esther…who knows…maybe you were elevated to this place for such a time as this. Know that if you do not do it, someone else can be put in your place. (adapted from Esther 4:14)

You’re quite comfortable now aren’t you? Once you were invisible, but now you have been groomed and shined to perfection. You have everything you could have imagined and more.  You’re the Queen.

Oh but wait. What about your people? I know you didn’t forget about them because we’re talking about your family here.  But, maybe you hadn’t really considered them either. I know you appreciate where you are, but we all have a tendency to forget to think back.

Maybe the point of you being elevated to greatness wasn’t so that you could lay on your pillows being fanned all day (although I’m certain it’s a perk that you just get used to over time).  Maybe it wasn’t about you at all.  Maybe it was to save them.

So, Esther, what are you gonna do about it?

If you believe in prayer…especially prayer to God – I AM, Yahweh, Jehovah Jireh, the Big Homey, whatever you call him- through Jesus Christ …KNOW that he hears you. KNOW that he answers and that he answers EVERY prayer.

Now, you may not like his answer, but know he answers it.  You may not even remember your prayer, but He did.

And in that, I would pray that you are very careful in what you pray. Not “scary” careful, like booga-booga…but like understanding that if it is his will, whether you think you’e ready for it or not, whether you only breathed your request, you will see it.

It’s already done.

“The world is neither so full of evil that we can’t enjoy it, nor so full of goodness that we can abandon ourselves to it. When we see something beautiful, there is always the qualifying thought that it is tarnished. When we see something ugly, there is always the qualifying thought that there is something of the Creator hidden there.” -Steve Turner, Imagine: A Vision for Christians in the Arts

When did everything become so rigid and unyielding? Left or right. This or that. Why can’t I disagree with you but still love you? Why can’t I disagree with you and SIMPLY disagree…not hate or disapprove of or disassociate with you?  Why do I need to pummel you in order to get you to see what I’m saying (which is basically that you’re wrong)? Is it really necessary?  Is the fact that I think I’m right the sole basis for making you wrong?  Or could we both be right with different approaches to how we got there?

Ain’t nothing changed.   The truth of the matter is that people can’t help drawing lines and then making judgments on what’s across the aisle. Because it’s easier to see the speck over there than the plank right in front of them.