2009 – Day 184.July 4 – Not Forgotten

2009 – Day 184.July 4 – Not Forgotten

Passage of the Day: Esther 2: 1 – 7 … Linked for study …

My Journal for Today: How wonderful is the truth of a God, Who, at times, may seem AWOL; but is ALWAYS tirelessly and powerfully working “behind the scenes” of life to bring all things into focus for His glory. And this is the story behind the story of Esther.

As was mentioned yesterday, a reader cannot find the Name of God mentioned anywhere in the book of Esther. Yet, in this wonderful biography of the little girl who lost her parents and was raised by her uncle, Mordecai, we see God working and shaping this young virgin to a place where she can become a heroine for the ages, … the girl who saves the entire Hebrew people. And only a loving, caring, merciful, and grace-bearing God could do such a thing.

I identify completely with the story in Esther; because I was one who had felt abandoned by God, left to deal with life without the closeness of a mother and a father. My parents were loving parents who simply could not express their love openly and physically; and I longed for the hugs which affirmed their love for me. And early in my formative years, much like it must’ve been for Esther, I did not have the gentle hugs of a mother to soothe my fears or the closeness of a dad to affirm my being. And so, at age 12, when I was abused by a teenaged Boy Scout who introduced me along with a group of other boys to pornography, I mistakenly felt that I had found the feelings of “love” which had been missing in my youthful development. And so I began to seek out these “love” feelings in all the wrong places.

So, I spent 22 years of my life, living a Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde life, developing feelings of distorted “love” by seeking out the feelings attached to sexual idols. And behind the scenes, seemingly absent from my life, was The Lord, shaping and breaking me to a place where I could and would come to Him, receive His saving grace, and respond to His love and mercy, finding what had been absent in my life earlier. And so, I relate this story which shows any who might read the book of Esther that God may not seem like He’s close; but as it says in Deut. 31: 8 - [linked here], He is not only close, He’s going on ahead in our lives to make a way, … His way, for us.

We’re going to see that with Esther; and it begins, here in Chapter 2, by a set of circumstances where the Persian King where Esther lived would call for his court to present a bevy of virgins and to bring before him for the talent show of the ages, where he could select a new queen. And in today’s passage this scenario is introduced for us to see that God is quietly, but powerfully, putting together the elements which would ultimately bring the orphaned, young Jewish girl before King Xerxes. It’s a God thing; and we should read this and marvel at the way God moves in our lives to reveal His glory to us.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I know – from my story – that You are always there and going on before me to show me Your way. Amen