Place

Place

If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?

“LORD, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME DO?” Trish prayed. “Who am I here for? Help me to see people as you see them. Help me to bring salt and light to a hard place.”

When my friend accepted the offer to be a long-term substitute teacher, she thought God was sending her to a classroom of children, and he was. But she soon realized that he was also sending her to her colleagues—a collection of delightful individuals who had trouble functioning as a cohesive second-grade team because of mistrust and deep hurts.

She found herself in the strange role of temporary insider, an objective third party who was part of the team and yet, not. She knew she couldn’t fix the relational dysfunction developed over years of misunderstandings and power struggles, but she also knew that God deploys us into workplaces and onto youth sports sidelines, into neighborhoods and onto community committees to intersect lives. And so she did what she does whenever she enters a new place—she prayed God would reveal who he was sending her to.

Trish was intentional in relationship building. She gently deflected conversations inviting gossip and quietly offered (often uncited) biblical wisdom when asked for advice. By the time her temporary contract had ended, Trish had become a mentor to two younger women, helping them navigate situations around marriage, parenthood, work, and faith.

Esther did not seek a spot in the king’s court, but once there, she recognized that her placement was not accidental. She was positioned in that place, in that time, to accomplish God’s will—saving his people from genocide by thwarting Haman’s plans. In response, she prayed, fasted, and then obeyed God. Just like Esther, followers of Jesus are God’s emissaries. Our placement in communities, neighborhoods, school districts, workplaces, youth softball field sidelines, and volunteer positions is not a surprise to God. And, if we listen, he will use us in those spaces to accomplish his will.

Lord, help us to see our coworkers, neighbors, PTA parents, and others who surround us through your eyes, and give us a heartbeat for the hurting.

-Julie

One Good Step: Fast (a meal, sugar, social media) this week, asking God to show you who he is sending you to in the places you already inhabit.