“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him” 1 Corinthians 2:9 NIV
I love the story of Esther in the Bible. She is definitely one of my girlfriends in God! I can’t wait to give her a big hug. Let’s think about her a moment today.
Can you imagine what young Esther, a girl without mother or father, would have thought if someone had come up to her at the market while gathering produce for her cousin and told her that she was going to be the next queen of Persia? That she would save her people from annihilation? I imagine she would have laughed or run for cover from the lunatic making such a prediction. But God had a plan. He took a lonely orphan girl and used her to rescue the Jewish nation.
If someone had come to me in my teen years and told me that I would be spreading the gospel through an international radio program, speaking at women’s conferences, and authoring several books, I would have quickly informed them that they had a serious case of mistaken identity.
My voice is too Southern, my confidence was too shattered, and my brain is wired for math and science. As a matter of fact, when God did begin opening doors for ministry, I reminded Him of all my shortcomings and why He had the wrong girl for the job. But as I began to take those first baby steps of obedience, He began to show me glimpses of His great plan.
Our dreams are always too small when compared to the magnificent dreams God has planned for His girls. While God has probably not called you to save an entire nation from destruction, He has called you to be a woman He can use. Missionary Amy Carmichael wrote, “Often His call is to follow in paths we would not have chosen.”
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Whether God is calling you to be a catalyst for saving someone from physical death or being a catalyst for saving someone from spiritual separation from God, when you move forward in obedience, empowered by His strength, bolstered by His power, and confident in His provision, you will see Him accomplish great and mighty works through you.
How marvelous that He allows us to participate and be the hands and feet through which He works.
“For we are God’s workmanship,” Paul reminds us, “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). God created Esther for a purpose, just as He has created you and me for a purpose…“for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14 NIV).
Thank you to Girlfriend’s in God and Sharon Jaynes for today’s message.
Hope Wissel 