Today we'll tackle Esther chapter 2 in about seven minutes (or 17 minutes...it's a full chapter!) Though Esther was beautiful, we often miss how, for Esther, beauty didn't lead to a fairy tale. Growing up in church, sometimes we've heard the story of Esther is presented as a rags-to-riches, inspirational tale, like the Cinderella story of the Bible. But the reality of Esther's story is much harder than that. And, though Esther had tremendous beauty--she had beauty for a purpose. God gave her great beauty but that didn't make her life easy. Instead, it got her thrown into what we'd now call a form of slavery where she was used and tossed aside at the king's pleasure. She had no freedom or autonomy, even after she was named his queen.

In this episode we talk about the reality that beauty doesn't always lead us to easy places. In fact, for Esther, it was quite the opposite. But, God gave her everything she needed to accomplish his purpose for her life--and that purpose was to save the Jewish people. Read the entire book of Esther after you listen for even greater insight into the story.

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