Study of Esther

I am almost through the book of Esther with the Bible study I have been participating in at church with the RefresHer ladies. However, I thought it would be a good time to share some of the things that have stood out most to me during this study.

When we first began the study, Week One Day One's lesson posed this question: What are you hoping for as you begin this Bible study? My answer to that was to return to the faith that allows me to carry everything to my heavenly Father, and to lovingly and willingly trust His hand in all things, past and present. That doesn't mean that I had lost my faith. It just means that I had chosen to not be confident in the fact that I can take everything to the Lord... nothing is trivial when I share with Him.

Week 2's most powerful conclusion to me was this: "Sometimes providence can be defined as times when God trumps your perfectly good plan with one of His own... then seems to disappear from it. Take heart, Beloved! He's right there and He's there right."

In Week 3, I was reminded that Satan's most powerful tactics are psychological. Brings Philipians 4:8 back to mind as one that I need to 'bind around my neck and hide in my heart.' "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

This also spoke to me: "Sometimes God uses the winds of a new threat to blow the dust off a past miracle that has moved from our active file into the archives."

Week 4: "We are wise to force ourselves to keep differentiating between simple inconveniences and authentic tribulations. The more detached and self-absorbed we become, the more we mistake annoyances for agonies." The recent inconveniences I have been tempted to treat as agonies include not being able to access certain relationships the way I would like and losing my patience with 'little' things in mine and Andrew's day.

Week 5: this week started by tackling fears and included the lesson of "If I perish, I perish." I wish I could tell you all that about 2 weeks after this lesson, when faced with what I thought was going to be a life-changing crisis in my life, that I passed this test. I did not- I begged and pleaded with God. I will share more about it in another post.

Also in Week 5, we discussed the stronghold of perfectionism. This was something I battled with day in and day out, hour by hour, minute by minute, until about 3 years ago, when the Lord miraculously took it away. I was able to reflect on the ways a continued stronghold of perfectionism had been a severe detriment to my destiny.

• It, at times, prevented me from going where God directed me to be His hands and feet
• It had hindered relationships where I had stopped trying, because I couldn't be 'perfect'
• It had paralyzed me on occasion from actions that may have been God-ordained because of my fear of completing those actions in a 'less-than-perfect' manner

This is not a well-polished essay on what the Lord has used to speak to me in this study. In a 'perfect' world (ha), I would have blogged a little more consistently through the study. But, I just wasn't able to do it as I had set out to do it. And, at the risk of not doing this because it was 'less than perfect,' here it is, in all it's imperfect form. The Lord will fill in the blanks for me, and will have His way with it. I pray it is an encouragement to you!