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Hey! I just wanted to share with you today's devotional. I've always been captured by Esther's story and by how God used a woman (which wasn't exactly common in the persian-hebrew culture at that time)to fulfill His purpose with the people of Israel. Esther's story is full of miracles, God-given grace and even political struggle. Today's devotional is focused on how Esther's limitations were used by God to free Israel. So, we should start considering that maybe our weaknesses are actually strenghts in God's hands. :)
Don't let limitations limit your vision.
By Rick Warren
"[Esther] won the king's favor and approval ... . So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen." Esther 2:17 (NIV)
"Sometimes what looks like a disaster in your life is part of a much bigger plan. But you will never fulfill your destiny if you are having a pity party. "
God will not only use your gifts to fulfill your destiny, he'll also use your limitations.
Let's look at Esther again. She had several big limitations that made her perfect for the role God wanted her to fulfill. She was an orphan adopted by Mordecai; she was a minority, a Jew living in a Persian country; and she was a single woman. A single woman in a male-dominated society had zero rights.
And God used all of these things, along with the gifts of her beauty, brains, and personality, to fulfill her destiny. Think about it ... if she had been a married man, she wouldn't have become queen. And if she hadn't been a minority, she wouldn't have cared about the Jews and what was going to happen to them.
So what am I saying? Sometimes what looks like a disaster in your life is part of a much bigger plan. But you will never fulfill your destiny if you are having a pity party.
Esther could have just said, "If only I hadn't been chosen, if only I wasn't Jewish, if only I was like someone else." A lot of people do that. They live their lives in resentment, always looking at people and saying, "Well it must be nice to be them."
If you have that attitude you will never fulfill your destiny. You have to realize that the unpleasant obstacles in your life are often God-ordained opportunities to make a difference.
It's hard to see that when you're in pain. Look at Job. He was the wealthiest man in the world and then God allowed everything to be taken from him - his family, his wealth, his health.
Then, when Job starting asking God why, he was silent. Job said, "I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I turn to the south, but I cannot find him. But he knows where I am going ... Hi mind concerning me remains unchanged ... Whatever he wants to do, he does. So he will do for me all he has planned. He controls my destiny" (Job 23:9-10, 13-14 NLT).
You might be in a situation right now where everything is going wrong and you can't figure it out. But God knows. Nothing in your life is accidental. The pleasures and pains, the opportunities and obstacles, God can use it all. There is nothing God cannot use for good in your life if you'll give it to him.
