Prepping

In the last 12 months, the interest in becoming a prepper, which means being ready for any disaster, has skyrocketed! I know most of us wished we would have had a month’s supply of toilet paper when the stores sold out a few months back, but preppers were ready and had a stockpile. Preppers do not know when or even if something will change their status quo, but, they are ready in the event it happens.

Esther was a young lady who had her status quo destroyed. She was raised in a land that was not her home and experienced incredible hardships when she lost both of her parents at a young age. Thankfully, she had a caring uncle, named Mordecai, who raised her. We see in the life of Esther, several defining moments that changed the course of her life and how she was prepared for them.

Let’s look at one way Esther was ready for her defining moments and break down the following verse: Esther 2:20, “Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.”

1. Mordecai Instructed Esther to Not Disclose Her Ethnicity
   This instruction by Mordecai seems to be unwarranted. What was the big deal about Esther being a Hebrew? I am sure that Esther did not understand why her uncle told her this instruction, but Mordecai gave her the instruction.

   Occasionally, authorities in your life will give you instructions that seem to be ludicrous, but your compliance is not allowed to be qualified by your understanding. God puts the authorities in your life for a reason and each person is instructed to submit to the authorities that they have according to the Bible.

   Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. (Romans 13:1)

2. Esther Obeyed Mordecai, Just as She Had Before
   It is interesting that the Bible gives us this detail, “like as when she was brought up with him.” This little phrase tells us that Esther was a young woman of character and consistency. Obeying her authorities was a decision that she made, and it allowed her to be ready for what God had in her life.

   Mordecai trained Esther in the way she should go: and now that she is older, she has not departed from it. (Proverbs 22:6) Because Esther obeyed her uncle in this simple instruction, Esther was placed in an opportunity to save her entire race of people from extinction in the later chapters. Esther did not realize the magnitude of her decision, but she decided to obey.

In our lives, we will have defining moments that arise. Those moments are a fork in the road and give you an opportunity to decide the direction for your life. We plan certain defining moments in our lives like our career and marriage, but oftentimes, you have no idea when a defining moment will present itself. Deciding that you will be a person of character and consistency in the matter of obedience will allow you, as it did Esther, to be prepared and set your life on a course that is blessed by following the command of God.