Influence

Recently I was reading in Esther and my heart was stirred.  Esther is an exciting book in the bible about an ordinary woman that God used in a mighty way.  I love reading about women in the bible because I want to soak up everything I can about how to be Godly Woman.  It is encouraging and inspiring to read about real women who made a huge difference. The thing that stirred my heart was this: During a series of events, Esther was made Queen and was therefore given a huge range of influence. She used that influence for God’s glory. In the chapters of Esther you’ll find out the following: 

1.       Esther had a beautiful figure

2.       Esther was lovely to look at

3.       She won the favor and grace of the King with these two things

4.       God gave her influence by making her Queen

5.       She used her influence strategically to bring glory to God and justice to his people.

My heart was stirred by this young woman who let God use how he had made her to win the favor of the King against who knows how many other women. In order to do this she had to of been confident in who she was, secure in her identity inside and out, and secure in the who she was in the Lord. She had to of been confident in the abilities God had gifted her with in order to use them like she did.

All of these things won the King’s favor and grace, she was made Queen, and in that authority she had the chance to bravely stand up and let God use her to move the hand of an earthly king and bring justice to a ton of God’s people.   

At this point, the Holy Spirit started prompted me with questions like:

Is your identity rooted in who the Lord says you are? Sometimes

Are you gaining your confidence from him and not other people, not your appearance or own abilities? Sometimes

Do you know how much influence God has given you? I don’t think I realize….

Are you using that influence for His glory? Not as much as I should…

What stops you from using your influence? Fear. Uninspired.

There are endless things in this life that I call Influence attackers. Sometimes they’re our own family, sometimes they’re our own friends, sometimes they’re people who don’t want to see us succeed or thrive for whatever reason, sometimes they’re our own selves, sometimes they’re the devil and the lies he whispers to us, sometimes they’re our pasts, sometimes they’re fears that we haven’t overcome.

God gives us tools to combat these things, though, so that we can live in victory and influence.  What are the tools? His word. His word. His word. 

Ephesians 6:10-17

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

So what steals your influence, security, identity, and confidence?
What are you doing about it?

God says we are more than conquers, that he is ready and able. He’s give us tools to combat these influence attackers because he intends for us to live in Victory, not defeat. He intends for us to make a mighty impact for His Kingdom, not live unimportant lives. He intends for us to live abundant, joyful lives, not lives of lack and insecurity. So hold on to Him and watch him use you. Watch him show you who you are and spead your influence.