21/10/2024
“The king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval. . . . So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen.”
Esther 2:17 (NIV)
God won’t just use your strengths to fulfill his purposes, but he’ll also use your limitations.
Just look at Esther. She had several big “limitations” that made her perfect for the role God wanted her to fulfill:
She was an orphan adopted by Mordecai; she was a minority, a Jew living in a Persian country; and she was a single woman. A single woman in a male-dominated society had zero rights.
But God used all of these things to help her fulfill her destiny.
Sometimes what looks like a disaster in your life is part of a much bigger plan.
It’s easy to look at our own limitations and see them as obstacles: “If only I had more education . . . If only I had a bigger church . . . If only I was a more eloquent speaker.”
If you have that attitude, you will never fulfill your God’s purpose for your ministry. You have to realize that the unpleasant obstacles in your life are often God-ordained opportunities to make a difference.
But it’s hard to see that when you’re feeling pain.
Look at Job. He was the wealthiest man in the world, and then God allowed everything to be taken from him—his family, wealth, and health.
Then, when Job started questioning God, God was silent.
Job said, “I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I look to the south, but he is concealed. But he knows where I am going. . . . Once he has made his decision, who can change his mind? Whatever he wants to do, he does. So he will do to me whatever he has planned. He controls my destiny” (Job 23:9-10, 13-14 NLT).
We’re living through difficult times, and sometimes you, like Job, may not be able to figure everything out. But God knows what’s going on. The pleasures and pains, the opportunities and obstacles—God can use it all.
