The Esther we can Be - Purim 2015

Tender hearted this evening, we have had a crazy week. Over the past four days a devastating fire has ripped through most of the beautiful South Peninsula of Cape Town. On Sunday evening, there were isolated fires that flared up out of control. From our house a very far 70 kilometres away from the blaze, we watched the flames moving and spewing out like lava from a volcano. As the news reports rolled in, the devastation continued. My heart was cut open and I could only weep. Many people were evacuated but my heart turned inside of me for the animals and for the land that was burning. 

In every prayer I could only cry out to Abba Father to send the rain but yesterday was the hottest day in Cape Town on over 100 years. Through all of this I sat and wondered about the many stories I had read, the many stories of God sending rain on burning land. I wondered about these stories and in it all I knew that God is God, He loves us but He will always do things we can never understand and that's okay.

Then I woke up this morning and felt the soft mist just sleeping outside across the city. I prayed again through my tears, God please send the rain. Last night was so windy and one of our oldest forests was in danger of being burnt. Again, I wondered about the stories of God sending rain on the land and then in a beautiful way, God showed me such Love. Through the stories my husband read to me this morning. Through the faces of the men and women who are fighting these fires. Through the pictures of the rescued baby squirrels and the firefighter who plays the drums in his church every Sunday. Through the most amazing picture of a strong woman firefighter (picture below) and through the story of a piano teacher who had to evacuate her house, along with 300 people. But as they stood on the sports field with nowhere to go, she sat down at one of the piano's she rescued from her home and began to play on the keys, to calm people, to give beauty in the midst of ashes. What this woman did - playing to hurting people, really struck me today. God reassured me today that while it looks devastating - and while the fire continues to rage on, there will be beauty that comes from among the devastation.
It's hard to believe this when you see only with the natural eyes but this evening as I prayed, the Holy Spirit lead me in a spirit - led song, a song where He told me that He will give back every burnt and devastated place, especially within us as His people. Somehow new life will grow from the dust. And this morning after God's Loving reassurance to His child over here, as I sat in art class drops of rain begun to fall. It was scant and not enough to put out the devastating fire, but it was there, it was a reminder and I am sure it was a welcome relief to the heat. 

This week I have been asking Yeshua for His message about Esther, as tonight marks the start of the festival of Purim, the Esther festival. The message is simple, it's about literal courage under the most trying circumstances, it's about laying down your life for others and trusting God with everything. That's what Esther did. Despite fanciful movies and books that depict Esther's life as a dreamy, love story, her life was far from this reality. Her life was hard, she hardly saw the king who kept many concubines besides his wife, she was hidden in the palace unable to be who she really was for several years, until she stood before the king to save her nation.
Esther's heroism is captured in her ability to keep going, to never give up, to hold on to God and His arm and to boldy echo the words “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16)

Heroism is a word people use in times of crisis, it's a term that people dont describe but that is subjective. For a young child it may conjure up the image of Superman, for me or you, it may be the local elderly woman who uses her small pension fund to feed homeless people, though she herself is struggling. It means something different to everyone but I want to tell you tonight, that in some way you are an Esther, a hero. I believe as Esther walked through the hallways to the throne room of the king, she heard the spiritual cries of her people, she felt the spiritual flames of the enemy's intended plan to annihilate the Jews. She felt the weight of her body and her emotions pulling on her and she felt the intensity of what God had called her to do, though perhaps she herself did not know exactly what she was suppose to do in those frozen moments. 

Tonight, I can honestly say that I know many heroes! Because God laid a scripture on my heart when I thought of heroism today, its Psalm 16. 

  

I said to the Lord, “You are my Master!
    Every good thing I have comes from you.” 

 The godly people in the land
    are my true heroes!
    I take pleasure in them!

Godly people, people who love God, who serve Him faithfully, beyond the camera's and the places where people can see, they are the heroes in God's Kingdom. They are the firefighters, and the Esthers. To be a hero in God's Kingdom requires surrender, abandonment to the call, to the God - dream He has of both you and of me. It's not about doing huge things not written in your destiny to do, its about knowing when to step in to the destiny of God, already written for you. I pray today that you will live a life of surrender, of pure abandonment to the King of Kings. I pray that you will be an Esther (or a Mordechai calling Esther's forth!) and that you will lay your life down just as the Messiah did, for those around you. May you see the path God has for you and may you have the strength and courage to pursue that path tenaciously and I bless you precious one with the fullness of Gods Love and Glory as you pursue purpose at a cost. Because purpose will always cost, but there is no greater delight or journey. Bless you and who knows perhaps you have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this!

* Please pray with us for our city as the fires keep on raging and more are starting everyday. Please pray for the heroes on the front lines and for all the animals. Please pray with me that God will truly cause life to spring forth from the burnt ground in Yeshua's Name! Thank you!* 

Happy Women's Month! celebrate!