Esther - "Waiting Time Is NOT Wasting Time"

Tree at Zion National Park

I think this is the first time I've ever written after one of my women's Bible studies, but I felt I needed to write about this as it's really on my mind in a big way.  Over these months since starting the Bible study last August 2016, I've found myself being challenged and changing as a result of what I'm learning with these women from my church.

We've had a change in leadership due to our leader and her husband being called away to move out of state and there is new leadership.  I have been blessed by all the leadership past and present, even though I am relatively new to this Bible study group.

Today our guest teacher was one of the women in our group.  She is an Indian lady from India.  All of us women in the group are wives and mothers of children of varying ages.  If you asked me maybe a decade ago whether I would ever want to be in a group with all women, I would be hesitant.  However, over the course of the years and events, I have replaced my predominantly male friendships with female friendships, particularly those of godly women whom love the Lord and are really living life, being challenged to live out life as a godly woman according to the Bible.

I can't share most and everything M talked about, but some epiphanies came to me that I am willing to share that is knocking me over that I never realized before:

• Every story in the Bible along with its characters have a specific purpose to teach and help us in our walks with God.  
• Many of us display characteristics from many of the characters in the Bible and some of those characters aren't good characters.  I'll explain later.
• "Waiting Time Is NOT Wasting Time" - I highlighted this in my notes, the only thing I highlighted.

Some characters in the Bible, I can really relate to:

• David - he was a man after God's own heart even though he committed many awful sins.  He understood how to make things right with God through repentance.
• Thomas - though he was a disciple of Jesus, he had so many doubts.
• Paul - the ability to share, to write, to endure trials and tribulations yet remain positive
• Elijah - a man of great faith, but even he got discouraged and exasperated
• Ruth - willing to serve, to humble herself and listen to godly wisdom, to give up everything she knew
• Peter - bold, but also a coward; got humbled, but once he realized he was prideful, he was quick to make it right.

There are other characters in the Bible I can relate to that I won't share at this time.  However, there were characters that I didn't think I could relate to and some were:

• Queen Esther - beautiful, bold, strong, held great favor
• Mordacai - a faithful servant of God, a man who could hear God clearly, willing to be a humble servant for as long as it took, brave
• Haman - a prideful, deceitful, arrogant man
• Jezebel - wicked, evil, prideful, never acknowledging her sin, hateful, revengeful
• the Giant Philistine - prideful, arrogant, taunting 
• King Ahab - a pushover, easily negatively influenced, wicked, evil, a wife pleaser, dominated by a female
• Deborah - a great judge, godly wisdom, strong
• Ananais & Saphira - stole from God, lied, not taking responsibility
• Adam - not taking responsibility, blaming others, not walking in his God-given destiny
• Esau - forsaking something really important for something temporal, short-sightedness
• Jacob - a deceiver, wanted things his way
• Rebecca - also a deceiver, a manipulator, wanted things her way

Each of these characters that I can relate to and not, the truth is, I hold qualities and traits from the good and bad characters of the Bible.  Each are examples of godliness or ungodliness.  With each person, there are consequences to the choices they made.  Some took the easy route.  Others did not and even for some that did not take the easy route, they did not see a good ending.

You cannot see faith, rather it is a trust put into action through either obedience or disobedience to God.  Some people made choices to turn their lives around and others did not.  There were happy and unhappy endings for both godly and ungodly people.  I think my take away today is that even some of the characteristics of some of the characters in the Bible I thought I couldn't relate to, if I look deep enough and study their character and choices, I can find that I exhibit some of these good as well bad traits.

As I wait upon God for certain things to happen in my life, it's not for me to dictate WHEN this will happen, but to allow God the time He needs to make things happen.  Sometimes in order for this to happen, these 5 things need to happen before.  I may be on #4 or still on #1.  Each has its own time and somehow this Masterpiece that the Lord is making, it's best left up to the Master Artist and not to the paint or the paintbrush or the easel or whatever the tool it is.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:  Pick a character, any character in the Bible.  Evaluate the traits and choices of that person.  What do you have in common that is good and bad about that character?  What kind of choices will that help you make for the present and future based upon what you are learning?

Why am I writing about this?  There are things I see in my husband and kids, and others that I would love to see "better", but I cannot control when they change or what is even changed.  God calls me to be obedient to Him, to allow Him to change me.  I don't need to worry about getting others to change.  That is God's job.  But perhaps in the process of ME changing, God is working on changing others, but it starts with me.

"Waiting Time is NOT Wasting Time"