Esther found herself in a difficult situation when she was taken from her family and chosen to be part of the king's harem. Though this was not what she chose, God positioned her to be able to save her people from destruction. Like Esther, God can take difficult circumstances beyond our control and strategicallly position us to fulfill His purposes. The passage encourages the reader that God redeems our pain and circumstances to work for good and His glory.

1. Morning by Morning, Thursday 2-4-10 – Strategically Positioned for
God's Greatness
Good morning, Lord Jesus. My Lord and my Savior, I give You my all. …
“Now Esther was admired by all who saw her … the king loved Esther more than
all the other women; of all the virgins she won his favor and devotion …” (Esther
2:15-17).
Sometimes we can tend to think of Esther’s story as a love story—a night with the
king. We can forget that she was a young girl, forcefully taken away from her
family and friends to satisfy the pleasures and the vengeance of a pagan king (v.
2:1-4). She was chosen not by the love in his heart, but by the beauty of her skin,
to be among the harem of virgins in the parade of nights in the bedchambers of
the Persian king (v. 2:12). She had to hide her true identity as a Jew, one of the
chosen people of God, as she entered into a new identity as one of the chosen
concubines of the king (v. 2:10).
Your Word does not reveal what emotions she had to hide or what thoughts she
had to bury, to endure and survive in the adjustments of her new life that were
suddenly thrust upon her. But we know she prospered and that she was highly
favored even in the darkness and tragedy of her new circumstances forced upon
her by the will of others (v. 2:8-9). And we know You gathered those around her,
who were watching out of her, with love and counsel, through her experiences
and encounters of this new season of her life (v. 2:11).
But though Esther found herself in a situation she never chose, out of the choices
of others for their own purposes and plans to satisfy their own desires, You didn’t
waste a moment of her suffering. You didn’t waste an opportunity to turn the
choices of men into the purposes of God. In those very circumstances that began
with the sinful choices of man’s desires, she found herself strategically positioned
to be used for Your desires—“for such a time as this” (v. 4:14). Because of Esther’s
courage and faithfulness in the face of choices and circumstances beyond her
control and desires, the lives of many were spared and the destiny of a people was
preserved (v. 8:1-17). By her obedience to Your leading and trust in Your
faithfulness to cause all things to work together for good, the day of appointed
destruction of her people became a day of great “gladness and joy” (v. 8:17).
Esther’s story is not a story of love; it’s a story of redemption. It’s a story of how
You took the abuse and shame of a tragic story of broken dreams for “a normal
life” and positioned Your child for greatness in the redemption of her pain for
Your purposes. The plans and purposes of the Persian king were transformed and
redeemed into the plans and purposes of the King of kings. “The human mind
plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps” (Proverbs 16:9). “The human mind
may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will be established”
(Proverbs 19:21).

2. Thank You, Lord, for taking all our plans and the plans of those around us to
redeem all the circumstances of human choices into Your holy purposes for our
good and Your glory. Thank You for surrounding us with those who encourage us
and guide us to keep looking to You, keep trusting You, no matter what. As we
entrust ourselves and our circumstances to You, You are the God who always
redeems our pain in your plans (Romans 8:28). Your ways are higher than our
ways and Your thoughts are higher than our thoughts, but they are good toward
us, just as and You are faithful for us (Isaiah 55:9). After all, You chose to create
us and strategically position us in this earth in this generation, knowing ahead of
time all that we would encounter and endure for such a time as this. And one
day—a day of great gladness and joy—we will be glad You did. “The sufferings of
this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to
us” (Romans 8:18). In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays