Royal Spa Treatment, Continuing Esther

Remember the last entry? We talked about King Xerxes and Queen Vashti. Queen Vashti lost favor with the King when she would not obey his decree. Now she was out but King Xerxes was out, too. Vashti was beautiful and he regretted listening to the counsel he had gotten.

But that same counsel got it together and found a woman just as beautiful or maybe even more so. She had to marinate for a year before she could even see the King. This was the custom. In order to be part of the harem, yes, ummm... I said harem, she had to be treated to various beauty treatments. I know, it sounds like a really rough year:) But this was something the young Jewish girl, Esther, was not used to, not at all. The only reason she even followed through with the plan was because her adopted father, Mordecai, said to. He believed even then that Esther was to be used by God.

Because Queen Vashti stood her ground and made the King mad, a young Jewish girl now found favor with the King, thus changing the way the history books would be read. Who knew that God would use a teenage girl to save a whole nation? But I have now gotten ahead of myself again. For now, she is a young girl, enjoying a year at the royal spa.

What are you marinating for? What plan does God have for me? Can we enjoy the spa treatment and not worry what's ahead for now?

'Lord, we want to follow Your plan always. Even if it looks like we're spinning our wheels, maybe you are preparing us for big things ahead. I, for one, want to enjoy this time of marination. I want to continue to marinate in Your Word. I want to be ready when You call my name.'