Tuesday; March 27

Have we ever asked God, “Why me?”.  Sometimes we ask this question when bad things happen to us, but there are other times when we seem to inherit the troubles of others.  We may not be directly impacted by events; however, they are close enough to involve us.  We may not be the one who has breast cancer – it may be our best friend.  We may have our finances in order, but our siblings might be in a fiscal mess.  We may not be the one enduring the catastrophic calamity, but it is impacting others in our congregation.  When these things happen, we may not take the direct hit, but we are bound to be impacted with collateral damage in our lives.  This may be particularly confusing when we have gone out of our way to protect ourselves from these events and – now – here we are having to vicariously face them.  Why us? 
The other day I was pondering this issue when I was lead back to an Old Testament story.  While Esther was rising to the top, her kinsmen were facing inhalation.  The queen was struggling with how involved she should be when her mentor noted, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”.  (Esther 4:14) Mordechai’s message was simple and to the point – maybe the reason she was where she found herself was to do God’s bidding.  Herr rise to the top may not have been her own doing, it very well may have been God’s plan to deliver His people.  As I thought about the events swirling around in my life I couldn’t help but hear Mordechai’s voice ring through the ages – maybe this is why God put me here now.
When we find ourselves in the midst of other people messes, what do we do?  Maybe the first thing to do is thank God for guiding us to this point and giving us the ability to make a difference.
Think About It!

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