“Esther, just as she was, won the admiration of everyone who saw her.” -Esther 2:15
One of the best birthday gifts I recently received was a letter from my dear friend Rachael. In her letter she shared some insight she recently gained while reading through the book of Esther. She writes, “It’s a simple message but one every woman needs to hear multiple times.” She then proceeded to make parallels about the characteristics she sees in me and those of Esther and she comments, “But out of all of that I think the most amazing thing about Esther is that she was completely herself and she won the admiration of every person in the palace, including the king!”
JUST AS SHE WAS…
If you’re not familiar with the Esther story, she saved an entire race of people by risking her own life, placing her life/death sentence in that hands of the king. Prior to saving this race, Esther had been brought to the king as one of the women the king might choose to be his next queen. Out of all the hundreds of women, who bedazzled themselves in the finest of jewelry before the presence of the king, Esther won his admiration by simply being her. Amazing, right? We constantly change ourselves or better ourselves to please others, doing things to win the admiration of those around us. But DOING meant nothing; it was BEING that graced Esther with the opportunity to be queen, which enabled her to save a race of humanity.
This letter was such a beautiful reminder that I don’t have to “fix up” myself for others or work to impress people. In the struggles I’ve had through my singleness, many times I’ve wondered, “What am I doing wrong?” or “What’s wrong with me?” In the times that I’ve tried to purposely impress others, I usually come up empty handed or disappointed, wondering what I’m not doing right. But looking back at the times when I’ve been completely myself–covered in dirt and sweat working at a Bible camp, dancing like a fool in the rain, unleashing my ghettoness in a variety of ways, or scooping up some kids in my arms–that’s when I’ve been noticed, just being me.
Like Rachael said, it is truly a message we ALL need to hear countless times. “Just be you” is a seemingly overused phrase that may have lost some of its meaning. But you don’t need to look any further than Esther herself to realize that this is a life-changer. Rachael summarizes her point with this: “Esther accomplished so much while being queen, but the thing that won her admiration from everyone was simply, her.”
So I pass along this message to you.
Simply YOU is enough.
