Welcome!!!!

This blog is about a group of amazing, unique, wonderfully ordinary women ranging in age from 16 to 70+ who get together every other Saturday morning to hang out and study God's Word. We meet in the upper room at Parkland Fellowship (hence the name of the blog) and our teacher is Beth Moore. I would love to say that she is with us live and in person but I can't . . . she is almost live and almost in person . . . and we are blessed!

This blog is also for this group of amazing, unique, wonderfully ordinary women to check up on study dates, share insights, access resources . . . and just be in community.

Let's go with it, and let's grow with it!

PS: Please note the links posted on the sidebar - FYI . . . for your info . . . for your interest . . .

Friday, March 12, 2010

Session Seven - Esther 7-8:2

I'll bet you wondered what on earth the point was as Beth taught us about chiastric structures and peripeties in the last session . . . so did I!!!!!  We should have known better.  I don't think she does anything without an explicit purpose, and this session we learned what that purpose was.  We learned that each and every "It's tough being a woman . . . " statement has a turn around.

I love it!

But we didn't get to the turn around's right away.  We first learned that every turn-around starts with a step, and took a look at the steps that each of our players took:
  • Esther stepped through her fear . . . she told the King how Mordecai was related to her . . . what he was to her
  • Haman stepped off the scene, or rather was pushed . . .
  • Xerxes stepped in as he acknowledged Mordecai and allowed Esther to take her role as Queen
  • Mordecai stepped up, acknlowledged by the King, into the space left absent by Haman
And then we began to turn things around . . .

When "it's tough being a woman who feels responsible for the how" (Scenario #7) we learned that we will NEVER fret our way to victory because faith IS the victory.  And we don't need to be responsible for the "how" because -

 "The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment." (2 peter 2:9)

 "For He Knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust."  (Ps. 103:14)

And when "it's tough being a woman who can balance passion with patience" (Scenario #6) we learned that God's patience always involves His passion . . . He is passionate, too . . . that it's not a wait without the longing -

"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;  He rises to show you compassion.  For the Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for Him.  (Isa. 30:18)

"The Lord waits . . . blessed are all those who wait for Him."

We were left with the words from Esther 8:1 - "That same day . . . ".  Know that the wait will end, suddenly, before you know it . . .

Isaiah 65:24 - "Before they call I will answer, while they are still speaking I will hear."

See you next session . . . Jan : )
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1 comment:

  1. DianaMarch 15, 2010 at 8:50 PM

    Isn't God Amazing?!!!

    He takes a young girl, who is orphaned, without distinction except for her beauty and warmth and brings her to a place to save His children, all His children.

    Evil had been prowling around trying to destroy, annilate, and kill God's chosen people, and God takes this lovely Queen, gives her the strength, wisdom, and ability to turn around the terrible perdicament they are in rescue them from pure destruction. Just when we thought it looked so vile, so hopeless ... God places His hand upon the situation and brings freedom to the captives.

    I love how God can take any situation and turn it around and bring it to us as new, renewed, reborn and we can have the ending we long to see.
    Praise God!

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