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Millions of people tune into American Idol every year to witness many of the contestants claiming that God created them to sing. However, it is an entirely different story when they open their mouths to sing. On the other hand, Susan Boyle, from You’ve Got Talent, opened her mouth and brought the judges and audience members to tears with the beauty of her voice.
God created you and I for something, maybe it’s not singing on American Idol, but each and every one of us have a specific purpose. Everyone is here for a reason.
Even though we are created for a God-designed mission (Eph.2:10), we unintentionally get sidetracked along the way. By default we let our lives center around something other than what we were created for. For some it may be filling our lives with too much TV or for others it may be filling any white space on our calendars with a malaise of busy and meaningless activity.
Unknowingly we allow our everyday choices to determine if we will live according to our divine opportunity. It’s our choice.
A long time ago there was a woman who lived in Persia, in which the King had everything he wanted, including the most beautiful women. The King was known for showing off his wealth at his many banquets.
In order to impress the people, the King put on a banquet for the entire capital. The banquet included unlimited drinking for everyone, “the king instructed his servants to serve each man what he wished.”
On the seventh day of the party, the King who “was high in spirits,” commanded that his Queen be brought in so he could display her beauty before all the people. She refused to come.
Consequently, the king was absolutely humiliated and furious! After all, she was his prideful possession and no one ever dared to stand up to the King! He asked his advisors, “What do I do with my wife?”
The king’s advisors solution was to vanish the queen, so they vanished Queen Vashti from the King forever and suggested a nationwide search for a new and improved Queen (Esther 2:2). Can you guess what they were mainly looking for in a Queen? Let the Babylonian Idol beauty pageant begin.
With cameras flashing, countless women from all over the country walked the catwalk in hopes to become the ultimate trophy wife. It’s hard to believe that there was a culture that was so superficial that older men would lure beautiful young women with their fame and money? Imagine that?
One of the beauty contestants was the Jewish, adopted orphan, Esther, who was chosen to participate in 12 months of beauty treatments before being brought before the king. How does that sound ladies? Finally Esther won the competition and was crowned the Queen.
Following her Uncle Mordecai’s wishes, she kept her Jewish nationality a secret. Now her mission in life was to be arm candy for the most powerful man in the world and “live happily ever after.” Maybe, maybe not?
Behind the scenes, there is a whole other story taking place. Mordecai, a royal employee of the King, uncovers a plot to kill the King, tells Esther, and the King’s life is saved. Although he saved the King’s life, Mordecai was virtually unnoticed.
Have you ever felt unappreciated or taken advantage of after you’ve done something significant for someone? Perhaps some recognition or a reward would be in order? How about…a thank you? Not going to happen, at least not now.
Later, Mordecai refuses to bow down to Haman, the King’s second in command, and Haman was enraged. His anger swelled even more when he found out that Mordecai was Jewish. Join us next time as we see Esther’s bravery in engaging with what she was truly created for!
