Y Not I

Purim is starting and this weekend the Rabbi’s message included a section from the book of Esther. The message was about what to do when your moment of time comes, and it was an excellent message. One other part of one of the verses from Esther got me thinking about a concept that I focus on often – that being how choosing G-d’s ways are actually the best choice we could make and to choose another path, even if it seemingly seems safer, will in the end be more treacherous.

The verse is Esther 4:14 and Mordecai basically tells Esther if she is concerned about saving her life, that G-d will bring deliverance from someplace else, and that in the end ruin will come to her and her family anyway. It seems somewhat similar to Matthew 16.24-26 and once again the implication is that G-d knows best what is truly best for us. I also think Matthew 6:26-34 speaks to this idea.

Of course it is easier said than done and I am living testimony to that. However, I do find that when faced with a tough choice, with perhaps leaving a comfortable situation for a not so comfortable situation, or even just being in a tough situation, that I can lay hold to these truths and know that if what I am doing seems to be what G-d is asking of me, then no matter how hard it seem, it is actually the best path I could possibly be on.

It is kind of like a sunny smooth path down one road and the other looking stormy and bumpy. Yet after a few miles the sunny path can turn cloudy and get quite bumpy, while the other path might clear up. Our vision is just not as far seeing as that of HaShem and thus it seems to me to make sense to just trust in His vision at these times.

Once again, I usually turn to what we say each week after the Torah service, which basically comes from Proverbs 3, especially Proverbs 3:17. G-d ways are ways of pleasantness and paths of peace, so those are the paths I want to be on. Maybe this sounds selfish of me, as I am being practical in wanting the best, but I do see these as promises of Scripture and I do think G-d does want what is truly the best (not just what seems best to our flesh). If something is tough, but I know that it is of G-d, then I know that it is ultimately a path of peace and a way of pleasantness and that make is easier to weather the storm.

I guess this gets down to what Philippians 4:6 speaks of in being anxious about nothing. Once again if I know what I am going through is something that is of G-d’s direction then I can rest in that. Boy that can be helpful and I think is an exercise in faith as it means putting a great trust in HaShem.

Chag Purim Sameach

B”H