SCRIPTURE: Esther (NIV) 2:7 Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This girl, who was also known as Esther, was lovely in form and features, and Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died….
20 But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up.
OBSERVATION: The providence of God in placing this young girl in the care of Mordecai is easily seen! Major disruptions in her life had found her without a father or mother. So, the responsibility for her care was accepted by her cousin. The hand of God can be seen in all of it.
Esther honored Mordecai’s directions even when she became queen.
APPLICATION: Looking back, it is easy to see the providential hand of God in moving my wife, Sharon from Delaware to California where her stepmother, Mary, had a great influence in her early years. Like Mordecai, Mary raised Sharon as her “own” daughter. Mary and Mordecai are to be greatly honored for taking two young girls and raising them as their own daughters.
Like Esther, Sharon has honored Mary as her mother even as Esther honored Mordecai as her father.
PRAYER: Lord, bless the people who have opened their hearts and homes to the special assignment of caring for another’s child as their own. Give them extra strength, grace, and wisdom. May your provision always be sufficient. Fill their hearts with great joy as these children develop into men and women of God! May they reap a harvest of honor from the lives they raise as their own children. Amen.
Pastor Leon
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