NOT BY MIGHT NOR BY POWER

I’m washing dishes looking outside my kitchen window and cheerfully singing my favorite Bill Gaither’s hymns. I see a lady washing a heap of clothes that would take me about two weeks to complete if I were the one doing the laundry. On her right hand is a young girl screaming, “Mummy I’m hungry!” in her mother tongue and pulling her skirt towards the entrance of their house. On the left is her other seven children looking not so clean, hungry and debilitated. For a minute there, I almost shed a tear. I start thinking to myself, “Lord what have I done to deserve a better life?”

I could have been the one in her position.

I could have been the one breaking my back like that woman and still have to think about what my children would eat.

I could have been the one living in such a non-conducive manner.

I realize that it’s NOT BY MIGHT NOR BY POWER BUT BY MY SPIRIT says the Lord of Hosts (Zechariah 4:6 ), and that we are not where we are because of our capabilities.

Immediately I start thanking God as I pray for the woman’s situation to change. Then, God reminds me that we should be grateful for our current situations, when you think yours is tough, imagine there is someone asking God if they could live the kind of life that you do.

That moment makes me leave the dishes, take a seat and start reading my Bible and as am perusing through the pages, I come across the story of Esther. Esther is just but a poor orphan living with her cousin Mordecai. She never thought for a day that she would become queen. However, God had a purpose and a plan for her and that was to be QUEEN, Vashti had to disobey her husband which led her to being dethroned in order for Esther to occupy the throne. In just a short while and without Esther’s effort, she became queen.

I learnt that we should respect everyone regardless of their appearances or shortcomings. No one is indispensable, if a queen could leave her throne for an orphan, certainly situations can change.  Are we not God’s children and isn’t the love of God the same for us all? With God, it is possible for the woman’s challenges to end instantly.

When you think about your situation, time is not really a factor. You learn that it is just by God’s mercies that you are there and that there actually is a reason for that season. If Esther’s situation changed from an Orphan to a Queen, imagine how much your story can change.

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