I watched a fascinating movie last night called “One Night with the King” about a Jewish woman named Hadassah who risks her life to save her people. Don’t know who she is? Well unless you are extremely familiar with and educated about the Bible I don’t suppose you would. I didn’t until I came across the other name she is known by: Esther Queen of Persia.
I think that what I found most fascinating was the fact that while I knew about the story of Queen Esther, I don’t think I’d ever stopped to take the time to understand the story. There are so few stories in the Bible that define women as vessels for God’s work. There are the obvious ones: Eve, Mary, Ruth, Esther, Elisabeth, Sarah, and Mary Magdalene. And then there are the often forgotten or lesser known ones: Rachel, Leah, Martha, Miriam, Naomi, Rebekah, Hagar, and Zipporah to name a few. Some are less known because they don’t have the lead role, others are somewhat forgotten because they are supporting characters or mentioned in passing. Hadassah (Esther) has a big thing going for her though, in that she at least has her own Book in the Bible. Can’t too many people miss that one.
To my point! I find it deeply inspiring that God chose a woman to do his work in Persia. And it wasn’t simply an “I will do as you ask” kind of thing. She had a period of time where, like Jesus, she begged God to find another way to do what needed to be done. To find another vessel that didn’t require her sacrifice. If there was ever any proof in the Bible that women, Christ, and humanity are all connected it would be through Queen Esther. It is yet another example of the fact that God does not expect us to simply stand and say “Yes master, we will do as you command,” but I feel He would rather see us fight a little.
As counter intuitive as fighting with God may seem, I believe it to be a fundamental part of whom and what we are. Human; and God gave us free will. How can he expect us to truly follow Him with all our hearts and all our minds and all our souls if we don’t do so freely and with a little struggle? I personally believe that every healthy relationship requires a little give and take, rather then one blindly following the other. Why should our relationship with God be any different? Sure He’s God, but that doesn’t mean anything unless we choose to follow Him.
I’m not saying that we should spend our lives arguing over every little detail of our existence with God, but when it comes to the big decisions a little debate is necessary. Not just for our sake, but for His as well. I don’t think God set out to create a world full of mindless drones. If that’s what He wanted we would live in constant fear for our lives, and no one would question His existence. I think that rather God wishes for us to look to Him for guidance in our lives the way a child looks to their parents before crossing the street. We can choose to strike out on our own, but in the end we must overcome our pride, selfishness, and stubbornness, and accept the fact that God can be the road map and directions we never thought to stop for.
