True Friends - Queen Esther

Over the past week I have watched two of my dearest couple friends endure painful moments as their dreams and hearts have been crushed under the weight of political posturing and the advancement of personal agendas. Both of them have an eternal vantage point and still have their marriages, families, friends, and each other. They have weathered undeserved criticism and smiled in the face of adversity. Losing your job has to be a very painful ordeal but it is truly when you find out who your friends are.


Today in Sunday School, we started studying about Queen Esther. She was orphaned at an early age and adopted by her uncle, Mordecai. Under Mordecai's Godly influence, Esther developed courage and Godliness and through her bold actions with King Xerxes, saved the nation of Israel. In the meantime, one of the King's ungodly captains, Haaman, plots to kill Mordecai. The plot fails and Haaman is hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai. I was reminded that when you "let your light shine" (1) those who are open to the things of the Lord are drawn to you - because they want more of Christ. Those who are threatened by the light of those who "follow hard" after Christ many times try to play the power card or exercise their own agendas. It is in those times that you learn who your friends are...are they happy for you? Do they cry with you? Are they on their knees for you? Do they stand by you? Do they want the best for you? The Bible says "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for they will inheirit the Kingdom of God." (2) So, dear friends who are struggling under the weight of the world's pressures, "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world (3) ..... This momentary light affliction will produce for you an eternal weight of glory." (4)

(1) Matthew 5:16
(2) Matthew 5:10
(3) John 16:33
(4) 2 Corinthians 4:17