Esther

Do you ever study something in the Bible to learn that what you have believed your whole life was wrong? Well that just happened to me! I have been studying Esther with a commentary by Iain M. Duguid. It is sooo good. All my life I believed that Esther was a very Godly woman who depended on the Lord daily. She depended on Him so much that she asked all the Jewish people to fast for her before she went in to King Ahasuerus to plead for their lives.
Well, not exactly. I think Esther was a Godly woman but she made many compromises that were damaging to her faith. In order to be queen she had to conceal her identity as a Jew, living a lie for five years until she had to reveal herself in order to save all the Jews from being annihilated! Even more than that, she married a pagan (King A.) and totally immersed herself in the world! Being part of the pagan kingdom totally cut her off from her people, God's people.
God is not mentioned one time in the book of Esther!! Can you believe that? Of course He is there on every page, guiding history. But they never give Him any credit!
Yet, Here is the good part! God used Esther mightily to save His people! He could have picked someone else. But He chose her, a sinner just like you and me. A woman who did all the things we listed above. But He allowed her to change history forever, to save His beloved people! I love these kinds of stories in the Bible. When God takes the ordinary girls and gives them extraordinary tasks!