Esther: Week 2

"You cannot amputate your history

from your destiny."

~Beth Moore, Esther Study

Sometimes, don't you need a word from God? That phase was my reminder this week.

If you know anything about Esther, you probably remember two things-she was beautiful, and she was a Jewish queen.

She was also an orphan raised by her cousin. A young girl raised by a male cousin. She experienced the trauma of losing both of her parents. I can't imagine. My parents have been such a powerful influence on my life, and I am hoping to be the same for my boys...but Esther had neither parent. Ouch. How could she not think about that throughout each day of her life in some way or another? As Beth said, "You cannot study her without remembering she was without both parents. She was a in a crown as an orphan."

But-even the most traumatic things happen for a reason, and shape us into the women God wants us to be.

"You cannot amputate your history from your destiny."

Everyone has things about their past they wish they could change. Trauma they would erase, or situations in life they wish they had avoided.

That is me, too. I enjoyed my college years VERY much. ...And that is what causes me grief as well. I made choices that I wouldn't make a second time if I had the chance. I don't live with guilt anymore, but I do live with regret.

In the Fall of 1999, I was in the middle of studying the Book of Romans and realized I needed to make an adult commitment to God. I was raised in a Christian home, I knew all the "right answers" about God-but I wanted to KNOW HIM. So, my husband and I prayed together and I released my guilt, and my sin to Him. ("Him" being God, not my husband-we were making this commitment together. That was perfect timing on God's part!)

"You cannot amputate your history from your destiny."

In the past, I would think about choices I had made, and lived in a state of guilt and couldn't forgive myself. I wished I had made different decisions. But the thing I learned was this principle that Beth Moore spoke about today. God HAD a plan for my life, and He HAS a plan for my life. He forgave me, and He currently forgives me each day. My past is what makes me who he designed me to be today. That is REDEMPTION~ and that gives freedom and joy to live each day.

"I say this because I know what I am planning for you," says the Lord. "I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you a hope and a good future. Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me!"

~Jeremiah 29:11-13

NCV

Everything that happens in this life happens for a reason~ The good, and the bad. It is our past history that God turns into our DESTINY.

" You cannot amputate your history from your destiny."

Is there something you can thank God for today because you know it has shaped your character, and your destiny?

Here. I'll go first. Thank you God for keeping your hand on my life in my twenties! I was making my own destructive plan, but yours prevailed. Thank YOU!