By Lynda M .Switzer
True beauty and strength flow out of our lives when we not only know in our heads that God is in control, but also we embrace a lifestyle integrated with God’s Word and surrendered to the Father’s plan and purpose.
Attention: Control Panel Beeping: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of the fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked: and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings (Genesis 3: 6, 7.) “Here, Adam, have some of this tasty fruit!”
Attention: Control Panel Beeping: “So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid: perhaps I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes (Genesis 16:2-4). “Abram, we can make this happen with you and Hagar!”
Attention: Control Panel Beeping: “Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to Him . . . Go out to the field and hunt game for me and make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me that I may eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.” Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to Esau his son . . . So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying . . . Now therefore my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death” (Genesis 27:1, 3, 4, 5). “Jacob, just do what I tell you and you’ll get the coveted blessing from your dad!”
We love to fix things and make things right! It seems to be part of our nature. Our control panels beep loudly! Does God always want us to take responsibility to fix the circumstances and situations that happen in our lives? When we go on our fix-it/control- panel- beeping expeditions, we usually encounter a lot of stress. Our lives begin to overflow with despair, frustration, anger, and self-pity.
Biblically, are there other responses that should be our “first responder” actions rather than our just jumping in to fix things? Life is hard. Are you in a hard season of your life right now? Know that God’s plan for us is bigger than our plan, better than our plan, and different from our plan.
God’s heart for us and the end result that He has in mind may be far different from where we think we’re going or what we think we’re doing.
Our flesh is crushed when we can’t control things. God will press into us. He loves us so much! His heart is that we passionately worship Him, allow our lives to bless others and use our energy to extend His Kingdom. It’s not about us and our comfort level.
Three questions to consider:
1. Do we hold back our worship because we have some issues we need to work out with God first?
2. Do we understand that, just like God ultimately blessed Abraham and miraculously provided his seed, that His purpose in Abraham’s life was that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed, Genesis 12:2? God’s intention is to bless others through our lives!
3. What is our destiny and purpose from the moment God created us?
What’s your life overflowing with? Despair or realizing God has appointed us to worship and serve Him in the midst of our circumstances? When we try to control things, frustration and self pity sneak into our lives and replace God’s peace, His assurance, and His love.
There’s a beautiful story in the Bible of a woman and a family that accurately illustrate how powerfully God is in control amidst unlikely circumstances:
Esther 2:5-7,” In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been captured with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.”
Hadassah means myrtle (A myrtle tree is a common evergreen bushy shrub with oval shaped shiny leaves, fragrant white or rosy flowers and black berries.) Esther means star. Mordecai may have renamed her when he adopted her. (The definition of a star is “a natural luminous body visible in the sky especially at night.) God was sovereignly moving Esther from just a common (bushy) life to the stardom of putting her life on the line for her people.
Do we read that Esther is in despair in captivity? Is she walking in self pity at being an orphan? Verses 8 and 9 of chapter 2 reveal that Esther is well trained, well adjusted and spiritually prepared in this pagan nation. God is opening doors of favor to her. Esther 2:17, “The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.” Esther becomes queen. When we have successes in our lives, do we take the credit for them ourselves or do we recognize the hand of God putting us in places of His design for His purposes?
In Esther 3:13, we read of wicked Haman’s deadly conspiracy. “And the letters were sent by couriers into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, on one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions.” Just like Mordecai’s commitment to worship only Jehovah made Haman very angry, pursuing holiness and not living like others around us may bring upon us the hatred and hostility of unbelievers. What gallows in our lives are ready to hang us up and shut us down?
There’s an interesting phrase here that reveals the reputation and leadership of Mordecai. “He (Haman) disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone, for they had told him of the people of Mordecai” (Esther 3:6). Who were the people of Mordecai? God’s chosen people, the Hebrews!
We, too, are part of God’s chosen people. I Peter 2: 9, 10, in The New Living Translation reads, “You are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God’s holy nation, his very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people; now you are the people of God. Once you received none of God’s mercy; now you have received his mercy.” God is in control of our circumstances and lives. It’s a good thing!
In Esther 4:4 we read, “The queen is deeply distressed” at hearing that her uncle sits at the gate clothed in sackcloth. Esther’s response is, “I can’t do anything about this. Mordecai, if I do as you say, I could die.” Mordecai’s faith-filled reply to Esther is in 4:14. “If you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther, God has set you up! If you remain silent, you may miss the main opportunity, purpose, and privilege for your becoming the queen.
Mordecai is appealing to Esther to look at the big picture of what God is about to do. This reminds me of the account of Joseph in Genesis. What did Joseph say about the ill treatment he received from his brothers? In Genesis 45:7, 8, Joseph tells his brothers, “And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” Note the progression in Joseph’s spiritual understanding. In Genesis 40:15, Joseph sees himself as “stolen away, having done nothing to get me here in this dungeon.” But, later in Genesis 45:8, Joseph tells his brothers, “It was not you who sent me here, but God.”
What Esther does next shows the depth of the godly mentoring that she had received from Mordecai. In Esther 4:16, Esther says, “Go gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” Attention – control panel beeping: decision time! Will Esther (will we) cater to the flesh or yield to the Spirit as the Apostle Paul encourages us in Romans 8?
Instead of jumping up to try to stop the destruction of her people by herself, Esther called for fasting and prayer, and Esther herself embraced fasting and prayer with her maidens. Esther’s response reveals her ultimate commitment to Mordecai and her people, the condemned Jews. “You do your part to help me; and I will do what you have said, even if I die doing it.”
Doing the will of God requires action. The scriptures read that David ran quickly toward Goliath in I Samuel 17:48, “So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.” David ran toward the giant confidently in God’s authority. God gave Esther the plan and she literally had the king eating out of her hand. Haman was hanged.
What happened next? Esther risked her life again! In Philippians 1:20, 21, the Apostle Paul writes, “According to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
King Ahasuerus authorizes Mordecai to write a decree in the king’s name. The decree states that the Jews can legally fight back if assaulted. Esther 9:1, “On that day the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, the opposite occurred, in that the Jews themselves overpowered those who hated them.” Esther 9:19, “The Jews of the villages who dwelt in the unwalled towns celebrated the fourteenth day of the month of Adar with gladness and feasting as a holiday and for sending presents to one another. . . so they called these days Purim (vs. 26) . . . and established (vs. 28) that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city, to be observed among the Jews, and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.”
Like the Old Testament Hebrews who preserved their traditions, we’re passing on memories. What kind of memories are we passing on? Are we carnal (ruled by what I think, ruled by what I want, what I feel) or are we spiritual (Romans 8 – controlled by the Spirit)?
We are called to the Kingdom of God for such a time as this. God invites us to surrender our control, to let go of circumstances and situations that we are holding onto so tightly, to shut down our beeping control panels. Do we find our identity more in our circumstances and relationships with others than in our relationship with Christ?
Yes, our lives have problems, but in humility and surrender, we can shift our focus off our problems and unto Jesus. Christ’s life is mighty within us - eager to burst forth every day in our lives. Instead of struggling to always try to be in control, Jesus invites us to surrender to His will, worship Him, display His works, and extend His Kingdom in the midst of our daily lives.
Christ in us the hope of glory! Colossians 1:27, “To (His saints) God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1,2 NJV).
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