Week 4, Day 5

Esther had called for a 3 day fast.  

"Whether Esther was mindful of Joel's prophecy or not, she in effect 'blows the trumpet of Zion', commanding Mordecai to call a fast for all the Jews of Susa, to see if the Lord may relent from sending this calamity on her people."

Joel 2:12-13

12 Therefore also now, says The Lord, turn and keep on coming to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning ( until every hindrance is removed and the broken fellowship is restored ). 

13 Rend your hearts and not your garments and return to The Lord, your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness;  and He revokes His sentence of evil ( when His conditions are met ).

So whether Esther was remembering Joel or just felt led to fast, we don't know, but what we do know is that two things were happening at this point in the story:

1. God's people were never called to fast for fasting's sake. They were called to fore go food to deny all else but God.

2. Esther came to what many would call her defining moment.

She was a woman who was thrown a giant-sized weight. She had re-invented herself, if you will. The Jews had hidden their identity, she had hidden her identity, and now she was about to reveal who she was, Hadassah the Jew.  Beth says Esther was Hadassah the Jew and Esther the Persian.  Esther had two identities and Beth asks us to describe our two identities. 

Cari and I talked about it and it seemed difficult to say what my two identities would be. 

From what Beth says, it would be like saying:

I'm Brenda the Viking and Brenda the American. 

The identities of Esther were national but I believe Beth wants something like:

Spiritual and Carnal

One foot in Heaven and one foot on the Earth.

Trying to be accepted by people and trying to be accepted by God.

In this part of the story, the Jews had come to a defining moment.  With the 3 day fast they were being brought back to their roots and back to their God.

Esther needed to believe God and not her feelings.  She needed to take the courage and strength that He had to offer her.

Many times we are thrown a giant-sized weight.  In those times we are also called to rend our hearts and return to God.  We are to not trust ourselves, families, or friends. We are to only trust in Him.

Esther was placing her trust back in God and away from the comforts that she had gotten used to having.

Placing trust in God everyday is not easy to remember.  We, being human, have feelings and emotions that like to take the front seat.  I'm sure that Esther had her own share of emotions, at this time. 

What I can say is that if she can do it, so can we.  We have all the strength and courage that God has to offer, we just need to take it.

Take that courage and step out of being ordinary because God wants you to be extraordinary!

 ~ Brenda