BIG!

Most days, my life is pretty basic. Get up, quiet time with Jesus, get Mom ready for the day, see Scott off to work, walk the dog... You get the picture. There is little in my life at the moment that would land me on the front page of the New York Times. Thank God. But what if I have been put here --in this quiet neighborhood, in this quiet season of my life, with these people that I call family-- for a purpose. Spoiler alert: I totally believe that I have, but I think we sometimes believe the purpose of our life has to appear BIG!! (See Esther 4:14)

If you know the biblical account of Esther, you know she was a young Jewish girl, kidnapped and forced to "try out" for the position of queen in the land of Judah's exile. One of the more nefarious characters in the Persian court devised a plan to eradicate the Jewish people. Mordecai, Esther's uncle, convinced Esther to use her influence as queen to "out-scheme" Haman, enemy of the Jews, and save her people from annihilation. Esther knew that to enter the king's presence unsummoned could mean death. Her uncle gently reminded her that she, as a Jew, was on the "hitlist" as well; she shouldn't think she will be spared. He uttered the words that have become the inspiration of many sermons on purpose and courage:

Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Well, this is not a sermon, and it's not necessarily about purpose or courage except to say, it may not be what you think. Easy to see in Esther's case, the stakes were high. She was a queen in an opulent palace, home of a powerful and eminent ruler. Her entire race was being threatened; her obedience could be the only deterrent to utter genocide. She was putting her life on the line. BIG!! It's obvious, right?

But what about my life? What about yours? Nothing big going on here; in fact, life right now seems pretty small. Wash, rinse, repeat. But what if the days you spend volunteering at the library or working your "dead-end" job at the grocery store are important to your co-workers or the customers who need a pleasant interaction and a smile? What if, by doing something as simple as inviting a friend's family to church, you opened the door to a teen choosing to be a missionary? What if the encouraging word you spoke to your neighbor about his first attempts at landscaping were exactly what he needed to hear to keep him from spending day after day locked behind closed doors? What if your prayers for your children will be the light that keeps them off the rocks for years to come? What if someone else is inspired by your example to be plain and reliable and faithful and behind-the-scenes and maybe even a little small? What if you have come to the place you are in life to simply serve God and be a blessing to others in the everyday?

That could be HUGE!!