In the Old Testament, there is the book of Esther.  Esther, in Hebrew, means silent or hidden.  Esther was a beautiful, humble, Jewish young woman.  After the death of her parents, she was raised by her uncle, Mordecai. She won a beauty contest with the prize being to become the wife of the King of Persia.

        King Xerxes had a “right hand man,” Haman, who grew to hate Mordecai. Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman and at this point Haman planned to not only kill Mordecai but all the Hebrew people.  (The King had no idea that his beautiful Queen Esther was Jewish.) King Xerxes agreed with Haman’s plan and ordered the mass killing to begin, but Queen Esther intervened and revealed herself to be a Hebrew. The order was stopped and the King turned the tables on Haman, the Hebrew people were saved.

        Because the King understood the killings would affect someone he cared about and loved and knew personally, he quickly reversed the injustice. 

        Do we care? Twenty-seven school shootings took place in the first five months of this year.  Did you know any of the students/teachers/officers involved? Sometimes we are saddened about the injustice, but if we do not personally know the children, it becomes a troubling, sad fact instead of something that can move us to action.  The King KNEW Esther personally and was then moved to change the entire outcome and prevent a mass annihilation of the Hebrew people.

        Let our prayer be for comfort and healing for the school shooting victims’ families and communities but also for us to not just be sad, but be motivated to seek policy changes, finding a level of involvement that will result in positive changes.  Seek the unconditional love of God in prayer and He will supply us with a right pathway for healing and change.

Jill