Hadassah

Sometimes it’s even hard to breath, because life is just to heavy.
In those times we turn to God and say I need your hope, love, and faith right now!

In the story of Esther:
After both of Hadassah’s parents died,
She was raised by her cousin Mordecai, who raised her as his own.
In chapter 2 of Esther, we see that the young Jewish girl, Hadassah, who will later be known as Esther, is taken from her home to move to the king’s palace, to see if the king will find favor with her, and possibly make her his Queen.
Mordecai instructs Hadassah to not let anyone know of her Jewish heritage, out of fear that she would die.
So Mordecai chose Hadassah’s name to be Esther.
The name Hadassah, in Hebrew represents righteousness and boldness.
The name Esther, is taken from the Hebrew word hester, which literally means to hide or be hidden.
Two names that are polar opposite in meaning, but both integral to Esther’s story.

In the king’s palace, before even seeing the king, all the girls were subjected to a whole year of beauty treatments.
After this, each girl would wear what ever they wanted from the king’s harlem, and try to find favor in his eyes.
When it was Esther’s turn, it says in 2:15 that Esther did not cover herself in jewels she thought beautiful, but only wore what Hegai, the king’s eunuch, advised.
Immediately, the king found favor with Esther,
And she became Queen…

In Esther’s time as Queen, there was one who plotted against her people.
Hamen, he hated the Jews, but most of all, hated Mordecai.
Mordecai did not bow when Hamen passed in the streets.
Mordecai did not follow the crowd, he would bow to no one but his Lord.
Hamen was embarrassed and mortified!
He had worked his way up in the king’s courts, and was planning the
destruction of the Jews once and for all.

Mordecai heard of this and tore his clothes, and put on sackcloth and ashes.
He went to the king’s entrance and sent a message to Esther through Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs.
When Esther learned of the possible death of her people she replied to Mordecai saying:
(4:11)
“All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman
goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law – to be put to death, except the one whom the king holds out the golden scepter so the he may live.
But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”

Mordecai saw Esther’s distress, through her reply.
But he also saw the fear of his people, and replied once more to Esther.
(4:12-14)

And they told Mordecai what Esther had said.

Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
–
Esther knew what she had to do.
Yes she might die, yes her people might die.
But this was why she became queen.
For such a time as this.
She replied to Mordecai for the last time saying –
“Gather all the Jews, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day.
I and my young women will also fast as you do.
Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish I perish…”

–
That moment in life when you realize…
I’m ready to give everything,
for what I believe in.
And in that moment,
all the chaos, all the struggles and fear of life…
Fall at your feet.
Because you understand!!
If you had no voice,
If you had no tongue,
You would still dance for the one that saved you!
You would follow God into the storm, knowing you might not come out.
Because when the day comes that we see the face of glory,
the face that brought ruin, and ash…and made them glorious and beautiful,
We will shout His endless glorious praise!
–
Esther came to this realization…
That if she perished, it would be okay.
God put her here for such a time as this,
and if she perished obeying Him,
then she perished.
She walked into the king’s courts, not as Esther, queen.
But as Hadassah, a Jew, pleading for the lives of her people.

Under The Surface: By Anna Beth

Hagar

Genesis 15-16

–

Genesis 15:3-6

And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”

And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”

And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

–

Genesis 16:2

And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

–

In chapter 15 God promises Abram a child, and Abram believes God. He fully trusts in Gods plan!

But in 16 it’s as if someone has changed his mind completely.

Abram is struggling with his decision, and Sarai is trying to make the decision for him even though in chapter 15 God gave Abram his very specific Word.

:Starting this chapter, I told myself I was going to analyze every verse, all the references…not even knowing what the story was.
But after I passed the second verse I was hooked! I got lost in the struggle of the Hagar.
By the time I realized I’d been reading for a while, I was done with the chapter.
Hagar’s pain and strength in this is so amazing!

Genesis 16:3-6

So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife.

And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.

–
Sarai GAVE her servant, Hagar to Abram.
This GIRL! Sarai just hands her over to Abram because she wants a child.
It’s so hard to even wrap my mind around what Hagar was going through emotionally, physically and spiritually.
Could Hagar have been killed if she refused? I don’t know..?
But it’s pretty evident that she did not want to have this child.
But what’s crazy is that after Hagar realizes she’s pregnant with this baby, Abram and Sarai finally realize that what they did was wrong.
They begin to argue in verses 5-8

Genesis 16:5-8
And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the LORD judge between you and me!”

But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.
–
Sarai blames Abram, and Abram blames Sarai. No one will take responsibility for what they both did to this girl!
They made her feel worthless.
Violated.
DIRTY.
They took something that couldn’t be returned. And on top of that she now has the responsibility of a child.
But what’s really sad is that she probably felt shame.
Shame for something she couldn’t control.
And above all this, Sarai beat her because the sight of Hagar made her feel guilt.
And then Hagar fled…
She ran until she couldn’t anymore.
In verse 7 it states this:
“The angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.”

–

So the angel found her by a spring of water in the wilderness…bruised, embarrassed, ripped clothes, messed up hair…and the angel says-

Genesis 16:8-13

And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.”

The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.”

The angel of the LORD also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.”

And the angel of the LORD said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has listened to your affliction.

He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”

I think this story is so evident in all our lives!
When we are bruised and hurt whether it’s something we did or by someone else’s hand, God is always there to pick us back up.
He’s there to hear the long story of what has happened in the past (even though he already knows), and he’s there to tell us what path we should take for the future.
I love that Hagar says “Truly I have seen him who looks after me.”
Even though she had been through so much, and she could have blamed God for it, she thanked him for helping her get back up.

References:

Genesis 32:30

So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”

By: Anna Beth

Brokenness Aside

I am a sinner, if it’s not one thing it’s another, caught up in words, tangled in lies | but you are a savior, and you take brokenness aside and make it beautiful, beautiful

-Brokenness Aside, All Sons & Daughters

So much truth for me to remember each day just from this one lyric. God uses our brokenness and our mistakes to glorify him, all we have to do is have faith and seek after him with all our hearts and Jesus makes us beautiful.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law weakened by flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You (specifically to Christians in Rome in 57 A.D.; however, applicable to all who follow Christ), however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who also raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies though his Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8:1-11

Jesus heals the broken, and uses their faith to shame the wise (just look at the first disciples and especially the apostle Paul). Following Jesus is placing trust in him a your Lord and savior, he will take your faith and use it to change your heart from the inside out, laying all brokenness aside, and fully serving him who saved you. Take that step up faith, open up the bible that’s been gathering dust, spend some time in prayer asking God to reveal your eyes to his glory, thanking him for the love he showed you, and asking for faith and the Spirit of God. True joy (not temporary happiness) is only revealed to us through faith in Jesus.