Divine Appointment

Have you ever given thought to how you arrived at your current status in life? Whether you are in a position of authority, high importance, in a job that you and perhaps others think you are not qualified, or maybe you are not where you want to be. You may have lost loved ones, financial status, material things or employment and feel like you can barely make it from one moment to the next yet alone one day to the next.

Whatever your status and wherever you are God knew before you were born that you would be in this place at this time.

Oftentimes when we are not in the most desirable situations or circumstances we think to ourselves this can’t be God. But if we look at our Lord and Savior and what He endured for us, we have to bite our tongue. Some of you may say well that was Jesus. Yes it was Jesus, but when he was on earth He was in the form of a man. He was just like you and me. He felt pain and emotion just like we do. As a matter of fact, He did all of this so He would understand everything we will have to face during our temporary time on earth.

Our most difficult circumstances pale to compare with what He bore for us, and the price He paid for our sins, our total wellbeing and of course the opportunity to spend  eternity with Him. But Jesus wasn’t the only one in the bible that endured trials and tribulation. It bothers me when people refer to the people in the Bible as characters. Would you like to be referred to as a character? Everyone that we read about in the bible was flesh and blood, human beings.

The bible is a wellspring of knowledge and information. One of my favorite books of the bible is the book of Esther. There are so many life lessons contained in this book including jealousy, rebellion, gossip, lying, vengeance, sacrifice; love, just to name a few, and of course as the title of this blog reads divine appointment.

The book of Esther begins with a feast being held by king Ahasuerus for all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces. Queen Vashti who was the wife of king Ahasuerus was hosting a feast for the royal women of the king’s household when she was summoned by the king’s chamberlains to appear before the king and his guests. Queen Vashti refused the invitation.

Angered by the Queens refusal of his invitation the king consulted the wise men around him which was their custom, to determine what should be done to the queen because of her refusal. The King was advised once other wives got wind of the queen’s behavior they would begin to behave the same way and show contempt for their husbands so he was advised to send her away and find a new queen.

Rather than cover the entire book of Esther I will bring you to the point I am making. Queen Vashti’s dismissal opened the door for Esther to become queen. Esther was not Persian as was the king and former queen. Ordinarily she would not have ever been eligible to be queen. But God moved Queen Vashti and replaced her with Esther as queen to save the Jewish people from destruction. Esther’s reign was not without trials. She actually had to go against tradition endangering her own life to save the life of her people.

Each of us has a purpose and a divine appointment. What sometimes may seem as an injustice is all part of your destiny. I don’t like to say God’s plan for your life because we make our own choices although He already knows what choice we will make. Even if they are bad choices He may allow us to make them. These choices are learning experiences for us as well as those He brings into our path as a testimony of what He has brought us through.

When you are experiencing a valley moment know that you will not be there always and that your valley may enable someone else to stand atop the mountain. Are we not all servants? Conversely when you are on the mountain top know that not only did God place you there, there may be someone in the valley that is looking up at you and you will be challenged with reaching down towards that person as they reach their hand up to you and by the Grace of God and as He says not by might, nor by power but by His Spirit will both of be able to stand on top of the mountain and reach your divine appointment.