Reading Esther

My heart and prayers have gone out to each of you that posted about dealing with a “Nabal.” Feel free to keep posting there on the Abigail thread! I wish that I could do more to lighten your load. I wish I better knew how to counsel you. My heart breaks over the things that break God’s heart – like verbal and physical abuse, and addiction – but I do not know His plans or answers for each of your situations. So I will pray, knowing that He is able to move mountains, that He is the God of All Comfort, and that He is mighty to save. If you feel that you need a counselor’s advice, please call Focus on the Family counseling department toll free at 1-800-232-6459 Monday - Friday between the hours of 8:00 and 4:30 Mountain Time.

Thanks for being patient with my somewhat erratic posting schedule. Next, we are reading another favorite biblical woman of mine - Esther. Are you ready to read an entire book of the Bible at once? Esther's story is linked here. Don’t worry, it’s not too long ... about nine chapters, and it’s a great story. Esther has a whole book named after her; she shares that distinction with Ruth. Another interesting thing about Esther’s book is that God’s name is not mentioned even once. So there won’t be any statements like, “God remembered Esther and did for Esther…” like we saw with Sarah and Rachel and Leigh. We’ll have to look between the lines to see God’s hand at work.

IC and others asked how I get insights when I read the Bible. Well, I don’t always, but I do now more than I used to. I’m not certain how best to answer this question, but I’ll try. Sometimes when I read, insights and connections jump out at me, and other times … well, not so much. We can hear but not really listen and in the same way we can read and understand the words, but not really digest the story. So its important to ponder and think about what you’ve read. Pray about it. Chew on it and digest it for a while. That is why I normally don’t have us discuss it right after completing the reading. I want you to go through your day thinking about this woman and her story, wondering what her life was like. Maybe try to tell her story in your own words and see what questions arise in your mind. Go back to the text and see if there are any answers there to those questions. Think about why some details are given and others are not – what are the important details? Ask yourself how this can apply to your own life.

With that said, the story of Esther is going to be longer than any we’ve read so far and with no clear statements about what God is saying or doing. So this is one will be a lot to bite off and chew. Feel free to just focus in on one aspect of the story that interests you if you want to with your comments. And you are always welcome to post your questions; the women here are good about trying to answer them for you. I generally try to answer any that don’t get answered, though I don’t always have time.

Make sure you have the time to read all nine chapters before you begin. Also, pray for understanding first. Then post your “I’ve finished reading” here when you are done.

I look forward to our discussion - sweet blessings to you today!