Where character begins

Scripture Read: Esther 2:5-7 Now there was at the citadel in Susa a Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, ⁶ who had been taken into exile from Jerusalem with the captives who had been exiled with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had exiled. ⁷ He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young lady was beautiful of form and face, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.   

Application: Can you imagine what it must be like to lose both parents? In this world that would be one of the hardest experiences perhaps, yet with God what would be considered a tragedy to us can be turned into something great by Him. Do we really believe this? Consider this story as it unfolds. All you and I could see is a young girl that lost both of her parents. How terrible and unfair! 


Surely, she will never have a good life. She has such a terrible handicap to her life just as it is beginning. She should not expect life to offer her too much – in fact, we should give her special help and even advantages others don’t have because life has been so unfair to her. I could go on but you get my point. I am not saying that people in tough situations should not be given special help, if we can we should do all we can to help every individual to have a real chance to live life to it’s fullest, but we have moved beyond that today. The sad truth is many times we treat people like Esther as individuals that cannot rise above their circumstances and grab all that life has to offer. I understand why an unbeliever might think like this, but not a believer. We have a Book full of true stories of people facing impossible circumstances, yet with God, they not only handle them, but also overcome and triumph in their life. Who knows if the tragic circumstances we may be facing are not the very thing God will use to put us in a place where we can see His hand move in a mighty way in our life. Thanks Lord for all of the individuals that are like Esther out there. Help us to never lose hope or settle in life due to circumstances. Allow us to keep our eyes on You and expect great things!    

* Meditation Questions: What does it take to stop you? What does that say? When looking at impossible situations, what is the first thing you think of? What is the first thing you do? When something sets you back how do you view that, as a reason to quit or refocus? What does it mean to have peace in life? Would that mean no problems?