Though not always the same scenario nor the results one hopes for, sometimes a multitude of circumstances and events just seem to come together.
That’s how it was for me last week.
The events and circumstances to which I refer took place not only recently but even centuries ago. Reaching ahead to tomorrow and then back over the centuries, there are lines of “sameness” permeating both personal and world events.
The killing of eleven Jews on Oct. 27 is a horrific example.
Last June our women’s Bible study group decided to study the Book of Esther. Books were ordered and earlier this fall we cracked them open and began reading the story. That same week Chuck Swindoll of Insight for Living began a powerful radio series on the same topic.
While there is nothing religious in the book of Esther – i.e. no mention of prayer or even of God Himself – it presents a powerful message of being available when divine intervention in a dire situation is needed.
If you’re not familiar with the story, I urge you to read it for yourself; in the meantime, here’s a brief synopsis.
Mordecai, a Jew, raised his stepdaughter Esther (also Jewish), and she eventually became queen. Cautioned not to reveal her nationality, it wasn’t until their people dwelling within the realm of King Ahasuerus were threatened with extinction that she came to realize her purpose – she was to be the one to intervene for them.
Her response? “I will” and “If I perish, I perish.”
She didn’t perish, her people were saved and Mordecai’s admonition that she had come to the kingdom for such a time proved to be true.
Although we’ll probably never know such drama in our lives but may we be open to being used by God, however and wherever He chooses.
