God is Preparing You for Greater Things

Do you know that God is preparing you for greater things? You are always in a season of preparation. Look back on the past several years of your life. Can you see how God was preparing you years ago for a season that came after? Can you see how that prepared you for what you are walking today?

God is preparing you today for what will come tomorrow. What is more, God wants you to receive the preparation rather than resist it. A preparing season is also a teaching season intended to sharpen your spiritual gift and shape your character. 

As God is preparing you for something greater, He wants you to start seeing and decreeing His…

• Divine favor over your life
• Identity over your life
• Purpose and plans over your life
• Sovereignty and freedom over your life

The Book of Esther | A Picture of God’s Preparation

The story of Esther is a picture of how God prepares us and, when we follow His leading, something far greater than we can expect comes to pass. Esther and Mordecai give us a beautiful example of how to respond to God’s preparatory work. 

There are ten chapters in the book of Esther. It isn’t until the end of the fourth chapter—nearly halfway through the book—that we read the well-known words: “…you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.”  

What can we make of this? God is preparing you long before you know what the preparation is for! 

You cannot always see how God is preparing you for something bigger, something greater, but you can trust that He is, just like Esther did.

There are a number of points to pull out from the story where we can see how Esther operates in the opposite spirit and makes a daily decision to surrender as God prepares her for something greater. 

• She could have seen herself as an orphan, but she was a daughter. 
• She could have seen herself as forgotten, but she was favored. 
• She could have seen herself as ugly, but she was beautiful.
• She could have seen herself as a victim, but she was a chosen queen. 
• She could have been riddled with fear, but she was brave. 
• She could have resisted the instruction, but she heeded the words of her adopted father. 

The lies the enemy is telling her and her choice to see through God’s eyes prepared her for her purpose. 

She could have seen herself without a purpose, but she was given a purpose for “such a time as this.”

Esther was able to see herself and her situation through the eyes of God. But how?

She remembered the promises He gave to her people. She did not come into agreement with the lies but instead, clung to the truth, no matter the circumstances. She believed and sided with faith rather than fear. 

Even though she couldn’t see how God was working behind the scenes, she trusted that He was, and told her soul—her mind, will, and emotions—to get into alignment with the truth and promises of God.

You can do the same.

How to Walk by Faith When You Cannot See  

Walking by faith and not by sight is essential yet challenging. How do you walk through the preparation when you can’t see the end result?

Esther provides an example. 

Cancel the orphan spirit. 

• “And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.”—Esther 2:7 (emphasis added)

Esther’s parents died. She was left as an orphan, but God provided a caretaker. He did not leave her as an orphan, just as Jesus promised (see John 14:18-24). 

Esther could have sulked and thought about how life had been unfair. She could have had a poverty and orphan mindset. But she didn’t. She listened to Mordecai, her adopted father, and trusted him. Esther did not come into agreement with the lie that she was orphaned. And as a result, she was favored. 

A decree for you to make…

“Father God, in the name of Yeshua, I cancel the lie that I am orphaned. I decree that I am adopted and grafted into your divine family and have an inheritance. According to Romans 8:14-17, I did not receive a spirit of fear but a spirit of adoption. You are my Abba Father.”

See the truth about how God sees you. 

• “…The young woman was lovely and beautiful… Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance… And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her.”—Esther 2:7, 9, 15 (emphasis added)

As a child of God, you are to believe the Father’s Word. As a child of God, you are favored, adored, beautiful, and blessed. However, oftentimes the enemy wants you to focus on all the things “wrong.” But if the Creator of the world, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, sees you as beautiful and favored—and His opinion and Word is truth—then believing anything other than that is coming into agreement with a lie. 

Esther could have seen herself as anything but favored—she lost her parents, was taken by the king against her will, was kept from her adoptive father and her people. She could have focused on all that was wrong, but she didn’t. As a result, she continued partnering with God in His preparation. 

A decree for you to make… 

“Father God, in the name of Yeshua, I cancel the lie that says I am anything but favored. According to 1 Peter 2:9, I am chosen, a royal priesthood, holy, special, and called out of the darkness into Your marvelous light. I declare that I am chosen and favored.”  

Listen to Godly instruction. 

• “And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: ‘Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’”—Esther 4:13-14 (emphasis added)

Mordecai provided an overview of what would happen if Esther did not use her influence and favor for good. Certainly, Esther’s mind, will, and emotions were filled with doubt and fear, but she did not come into agreement with it. She heeded the instruction to contemplate and think about how she could help and use her power to save others.

Esther could have denied her power or influence. She could have ignored the instruction. The Bible says that the news of Haman’s plot distressed her. She was deeply moved in the spirit. And God provided instruction for her, inviting her into the process. As a result, she bravely moved forward. 

A decree for you to make…

“Father God, in the name of Yeshua, I cancel any lie that says that I cannot hear your voice or receive instruction for my life’s circumstances. According to John 10:27, as Your follower, I can hear Your voice. John 14:26 says that Your Spirit will teach me all things. I decree that Your instruction is for me, and I have access to it.” 

Be brave. 

• “Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: ‘Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!’”—Esther 4:15-16 (emphasis added)

After Mordecai’s wise words were spoken, Esther sought personal revelation and instruction. She fasted and prayed. God gave her a vision that she would “go to the king.” And the banquet plan began to unfold. 

Esther could have shrunk back, continued to doubt. But she chose to be brave, wise, and patient. The Lord gave her a plan, and she trusted it. What God had been preparing all along was starting to come together. As a result, the Jewish people were saved. 

A decree to make…

“Father God, in the name of Yeshua, I cancel the lie that I do not have courage and cannot be bold for you. According to 2 Timothy 1:7, You have not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. Yeshua, I come into agreement with Your Word and decree I have power and authority to overcome all the power of the enemy, and that nothing will harm me, according to Luke 10:19.”

In Summary

If you haven’t read the Esther story, check it out. 

God is at work in your life. God is preparing you for something greater. Trust the process. Trust His provision. Trust His promises. 

Rather than focusing on what-ifs or trying to figure out everything that God might have planned or might do, rest in Him. Sit in His presence and ask Him what He has for you today. Declare that you want nothing more and nothing less. 

Perhaps today is the day you are recognized as queen. 

Perhaps today is the day you receive distressing news. 

Perhaps today is the day you see why you are chosen “for such a time as this.” 

Whatever today brings, know He is working behind the scenes for something far more than you can expect or imagine.