At the beginning of the video Beth told us that she hoped to change our way of thinking about this particular topic. She began by reading Esther 4:10-16. These verses are a conversation between Esther and Mordecai about the destruction of the Jews in the kingdom. The conversation shows Esther going from Fear and Self preservation in verse 11 to "If I perish, I perish" in verse 16. Beth focuses on Esther choice to embrace her destiny that laid in front of her in Verse 14 when Mordecai says "If you keep silent at this time, liberation and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father's house will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this." What I love about these verses is that there is no confusion on whether Esther has a choice. It is clear that she can either rise up or she can keep silent, but either way, liberation and deliverance will come. But will it be through Esther, It is her choice to make. Will she choose to conquer fear and trust that God will be there? Will We?
Beth talks about fear in a way I have never considered before. She presented the following simple sentence:
"IF THIS _________, THEN ___________."
"IF THIS _________, THEN GOD!
Beth said our destiny is not fulfilled when we die. Our death is just part of it and our destiny is not fulfilled until Jesus returns to this earth! It has definitely made me think differently about death…..about how people die. Was Papaw really called to a courageous death? Was Lung cancer just a step in his destiny? How could he have possibly had a choice in this the way Esther did? Clearly I have had a lot of anger about this for MANY years! But I think this has really helped me think about it differently. Papaw had many choices during his battle with cancer. He had the choice to give up on his family and to give up on God. I watch him suffer but I NEVER saw him fail. He may have been physically weak, but he was incredibly strong! During his battle he prepared my Memaw for life beyond him. Obviously she could never be prepared for the pain of losing him, but she was prepared to live on this earth without him. He taught her the finances and bought her a safe vehicle. He made sure she was surrounded by people who could help her. He also NEVER gave up on GOD! He continued to study His word and attend services every chance his body would allow. He prayed for his family and was a strong influence on us all. Cancer may have taken his body but his life still lives in us all. And because he is still in my heart, he is still fulfilling his destiny, not just in heaven, but here on earth.
I love the way Beth says it “We need to live, live, live until we die, and in a blink of an eye, LIVE for eternity!”
