Esther 4:14
You were born for such a time as this.
An amazing woman of God was recently laid to rest! Queen Elizabeth II was buried with all the pomp and circumstance the monarchy could muster. I heard them say that the plans for this event were in the works for quite a while as her age crawled closer to the 100 mark!
On ‘this side of the pond’ we might not have been as familiar with her life and work as in the UK. Here is some information I was able to glean from news sources. Elizabeth was groomed to be queen from a child. That is just the way it works. No rebellion, no choosing another line of work-you will be queen one day just because you are the daughter of the current king! She accepted her role and at the tender age of 26, her father, the king, suddenly died-she became the queen right then!
While it might sound like the fairy-tale role that little girls dream of; tiaras and crown, beautiful clothes, help with all the household chores, it was not always desirable!
For example, if you just wanted to hang out with some friends on a laid-back Saturday, wearing some distressed jeans, Star Wars t-shirt, hair up in a messy bun and some keds, well, you probably would not get out the door before the paparazzi would have your photo on national papers with a disparaging comment below it. There is NO Un scrutinized time when you are a ‘royal’.
All in all, this Queen behaved as a royal example to her 15 sovereign states until her time of death. She stayed neutral in politics, pleasant in her affairs with public, firm on her commitment to her family, and of course, always ready to be in the limelight with the right attire, smile, wave and conversation. Queen Elizabeth II was also a beautiful example of a Christ follower to her people.
The queen most often referred to in the Bible was very similar. Queen Esther was chosen to be queen from an array of beauties. When she was chosen, she embraced that role to the maximum usefulness. When it was brought to her attention that her people, the Jews, would be annihilated if she did not intervene on their behalf, she wasted no time making a plan. The plan succeeded, with God’s help. The Jews were spared then, and we still have a population of ‘God’s chosen people’ today because of Queen Esther and her selfless actions to present a plot to the king-even if it may have meant her own life!
You and I will never be queens or kings facing the constant watchful eye of public scrutiny, but we will be watched to see how we are living out our responsibilities as ‘children of the King-Jesus”. That scrutiny will be even more important to others than the ‘crown’ in UK. The millions of people who took time from their own lives to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II, probably would not have done so if she had not been a loving and caring woman. Take a moment to consider how you are presenting yourself to the world. What will your legacy be?
Leave a Reply