Doing What Matters
Doing What Matters
“Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14
The book of Esther is the one book in the Bible that never mentions God. It implies God in some ways. The people are Jews, they fast, etc. So there is awareness of religion. But there is never one mention of God!
In spite of that, Esther is in the Bible and is an important book. It is important because it is a story of people who are held captive being set free. It is important because someone stands up for the oppressed and the captives and as a result, they find freedom. Something that God clearly wants happens in the faithful and courageous actions of a woman named Esther. And Esther is the queen – married to the guy who is holding all the Jews in captivity in the first place! The heroine of this story is not even Jewish herself.
This is a good reminder about a few things. First, God is at work all the time. We don’t have to be aware of it for God to do things and even to use us to do them. Second, God values the actions of people. Of course, God works in other ways in addition to the actions of people. But God wants people to value the things God values and do the things God wants done. Esther pulls that off.
We live in a world where God is not always acknowledged. We often lead lives where we forget to acknowledge God in the midst of all the hectic things that compete for our time and energy. But God continues to work in, with and under the stuff of life.
Your life does matter to God. When you see something that needs to be done, stand up and see that it happens. It may take courage or sacrifice on your part, but the book of Esther reminds us: Doing the things that matter most to God can change the world!
