FMF: Quiet

“If you keep quiet at this time, someone else will help and save the Jewish people, but you and your father’s family will all die. And who knows, you may have been chosen queen for just such a time as this.”
(Esther 4:14, NCV)

I sometimes forget God uses the unlikely to accomplish His will.  What a great reminder because, honestly, most of the time I wouldn't choose me for my own team.  But God sees people for their heart, and He places them in places that give them opportunity.

Esther was raised by her uncle, and she was chosen for a nationwide search for a new queen after the previous queen had been killed by her husband.  You see, the king was afraid that his wife would empower wives and create marital unrest, so he had her taken care of. Is it any wonder that that Esther's uncle, Mordecai, told her not to tell anyone in the royal palace that she was a God-follower (Esther 2:10).

Yet time passed and the believers found themselves in a precarious situation, one that would mean the end to their people. Including Mordecai.  Including Esther.  And, so, it was Mordecai again who instructed Esther to speak up.

In Eccesiastes 3 we are reminded that there is a time and a season for everything.  Sometimes we speak.  Sometimes we refrain. May God give us the wisdom to know when to do each, and like Esther, may many people be saved as a result.

* * *

This post is a prompt from Five Minute Friday

and was written in approximately five minutes.

For more information, visit fiveminutefriday.com.

* * *

Empty Bank Accounts and Hearts Filled with Joy

I praise the Lord because he advises me...

You will teach me how to live a holy life.

Being with you will fill me with joy;

at your right hand I will find pleasure forever.
(Psalm 16:7,11, NCV)

It happened unexpectedly, as it usually does. I checked my bank balance and saw an amount significantly lower than I expected. With only $15 and four days until pay day, this was problematic. So I gathered all the cash I could find and warned my husband not to use our debit card. That was Sunday.

I must admit that the event came with a mix of emotions. I was already aware that we had been looser with our spending than we should have been, but I was struggling to make changes to improve our situation. A little less take out and a little more effort in our kitchen would have gone a long way. This knowledge brought guilt and regret. It was definitely humbling.

On Monday morning I made a plan for making it to Wednesday, using only the cash I had scraped together. Breakfast was easy. We already had plenty of cereal and oatmeal at the house. Lunch would also be easy - leftovers or sandwiches. We aren't very creative for daytime meals, but I like for dinner to be special. Don't get me wrong, we don't pull out our china.  We don't even have real china. In fact, dinner is often eaten sitting in front of the television, but the dinner meal is the one that warms my heart. Using a grocery store card with an unknown amount and a $20 gift card to a BBQ restaurant, I felt like God had provided, and I knew it we'd make it without an inconvenience to my family.

The grocery store gift card was for a store I don't frequent, part of the reason it had gone unspent. When I arrived at the store I was pleasantly surprised to discover it had a $50 balance. Again, I felt certain that this was God's means of provision. Not only was I able to buy the items needed for veggie wraps for dinner that night, I bought several sides for dinner Tuesday night to accompany the $20 of tri tip I would order from the BBQ restaurant.

On Tuesday I was reminded that God's ways are better than my ways (Isaiah 55:8). About 10am I realized I hadn't checked the mail on Monday. I opened my mailbox to find two small Amazon deliveries, a Christmas card, and two other envelopes I hadn't expected to come.  I knew the first envelope would come eventually but did not expect it to come that quickly. It was a reimbursement from my college for my Spring semester fees. My heart was filled with joy thinking about when I had discovered that this money was owed me.  I still don't know how or why it happened.  The fee waiver must be requested, and I had not made a request.  But at this moment of need, it was exactly what I needed.  I was reminded that God's timing is always right, even in hardship (Ecclesiastes 8:6).

But what about that other letter? I opened it and saw a refund from my insurance company for overpayment of my premium.  I have no idea why this money came, as I guarantee you that I paid only the amount requested when I renewed my policy.  It was the third of three Christmas gifts that would help to restore joy until me.  Those gift cards and fee reimbursements were gold, frankincense, and myrrh to my spirit.

The body. The braid.

During a Sunday morning service last May, I found myself thinking about that girlhood rite of passage: the sleepover. Forgive me, Pastor Josh, if you are reading this.

Our pastor had just explained that the proper translation of Philippians 1:6 is a plural you. Where we read "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in YOU will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (NASB), it would more properly be translated “He who began a good work in Y’ALL...” (as they might say in the south).

He had just made this statement when I noticed two girls in front of me sharing a moment of spiritual sisterhood. They were tenderly, messily braiding each other's hair. The jokes about girls getting together to braid each other’s hair are almost cliche. Nobody I know gets excited about braiding their own hair. Some even consider it a chore. Yet many times I've seen one woman start braiding another woman's hair, almost instinctively. Why is that?  Why is there something special about braiding each other’s hair?

I suspect it’s not too different from what my pastor was saying that day. We are made to be a people. God promised Abraham a son, but also a people. It was God’s people, as a collective, who were punished with 40 years in the desert, not just the ten spies who doubted their ability to conquer the promised land. It is why Paul missed his fellow believers when he was away from them, which I wrote about yesterday, and you can read HERE. Like three portions of hair come together to make a braid, we make up a body of believers. Don't forget, the braid is a Biblical concept.

"Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore, if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone?  And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart" (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, NASB).

Be the body.  Be the braid.

Meaningless

Pandemic boredom has struck me hard this week.

I keep a pretty clean house, so I didn't have a lot of "catch up" work to do, and any I had was finished the first week we stayed home. I have been doing homework, reading, writing, and doing daily devotions more consistently. But like I said, pandemic boredom has struck me hard. So I looked for other projects:

I washed all my doors, inside and out.
I brushed the dog.
I washed all my baseboards.
I washed the walls in my bathroom.
I cleaned my kitchen cupboard doors.
I washed my ceiling fans.
I erased 4,000 emails in one sitting.
I hand polished my hardwood floors.
I cleaned my closet and one son's closet.
I trimmed two trees in my backyard.
I organized my cassette tapes, matching mixed tapes with covers.

It's all feels meaningless. On a day when it feels like there is not point to anything you do, sit down with twelve chapters of wisdom from a king who calls himself Preacher. Yes, today is a day for Ecclesiastes. Certainly if a king feels his actions are meaningless, I am allowed to feel the same. Wisdom, pleasure, possessions, labor, riches, and even life itself are all called foolish. That just about covers it all. I can imagine the Goodreads reviews if it were published today: Three stars. It had some good parts, but the Preacher needs prozac!

So what's the point?

Let's hear from the preacher himself: "The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.  For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, NASB).

I am reminded of another part of the Bible that says, "Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve" (Colossians 3:23-24, NASB).

Even though it's all meaningless, it matters because we choose to follow or disobey God through it. We will be judged according to how our faith plays out in our actions. So, whether this time of sheltering in place is filled with busyness or boredom, I pray my actions bless the Lord.