This Esther Generation

Today I was reminded about who Esther was.

Today my Esther study fell on a day where we were processing some devastating news.

Beth Moore said that she used to think there was no pain like losing one’s child.

As we sat listening to Beth say those words, a woman from our study was less than a mile away giving birth to her son. A son she would say “hello” and “goodbye” to on the same day. Baby Lincoln’s heart stopped beating 5 weeks before his due date. That is great pain. I’m sure every one of us thought of her as we heard those words. We knew that she was not with us because she was saying a very painful farewell.

Beth said she changed her mind when she sat in a funeral for a friend and watched her little girls sit in the front row with her father. Young girls who no longer had a mother. She said that she couldn’t imagine a pain as deep as a young child losing their mother.

I looked down at my hands. I know what it’s like to lose a mother. I didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone who might be thinking about my story.

In the end, it’s not really about which pain is worse.

Then she said these words,

“You cannot amputate your history from your destiny.”

I have some friends going through some deep waters right now. When they come out on the other side, they will have parts of their history that they might wish they could amputate from their history.

But we serve a God who makes all things new. He brings beauty from the broken. Life comes from death.

(image credit)

Esther had a lot going against her. She had every right to play the victim card.

Orphaned. Abused. Addicts. Cancer fighters. Grieving Mothers. Jobless. Hopeless. He takes us- His “Esther”s- and His promise is that He will use all things for His glory.

Ann Voskamp and Amena Brown shared this at the IF:Gathering:

There is a whole Esther generation rising right here and now and it is us

Who say now is the time for the faith brave

To sky dive and fly

To remember that we don’t have to strive to be anyone

To stop taking issue with what God made

To accept that our perfect God makes no mistakes

There’s a whole Esther generation rising right here and now and it is us

To take the weight we carry on our backs

And offer it back to the savior who already carried the weight of the world on his shoulders

Who surrender

Who lay out alabaster hopes and dreams at the feet of our Savior

There is a whole Esther generation rising right here and now and it is us