From The Publishers

arise, esther!

FROMTHEPUBLISHERlinda evans shepherd

IS GOD CALLING YOU TO ANEVEN GREATER PURPOSE?

Yes. Well, except for one thing. You’re doing all you have the time, knowhow and energy to do. In fact, you’re busy working to simplify your life because you’ve already maxed out your purpose-limit.

I get it, but I’m wondering how fast your limit would lift if you suddenly discovered a sniper’s gun aimed at your neighbors. What if you alone could sound the alarm to warn your friends before a volley of bullets destroyed their lives?

Let’s raise the stakes. What if your own children stood in the line of fire? Would you raise your voice, even if your warning caused the sniper to take aim at you?

I already know the answer. Because you’re reading this, you are the kind of woman who would rise to her feet and not only call to warn her children, you’d shield them with your own body.

That’s exactly the story of Queen Esther. She was a young woman whom God called to rise from orphan to queen. She was meant to live a royal life in a splendid palace, right? So why jeopardize a good thing?

Everything changed the day Esther learned that Haman, an adviser to her husband, the king, had devised a plot to murder her people. And there she was, the only one in position to turn the king’s head from such an evil. The problem was that sounding this alarm could not only strip Esther of

her position; it was possible she would have to pay with her very life.

The parallel of Queen Esther’s dilemma is not lost on you. Perhaps if you answered the call on your life, you’d not only have to step out of your comfort zone, you’d have to step into the line of fire.

So what did Esther do? She listened to her uncle. He explained that her rise to royalty may have been God’s way to put her in position to save her people.

Esther counted the cost, then stepped into her mission, saying, “If I perish I perish.”

Perhaps you’ve been secretly hoping that someone else would step up and sound the alarm. As you’ve waited, hoped and prayed, you’ve watched the enemy take aim at your own loved ones and wondered, won’t somebody do something?

What if God has placed you in position to answer your own prayer, for such a time as this?

I believe He has. Read through the pages of this issue to get equipped, inspired and encouraged to step into your greater purpose, for such a time as this. As you do, you will, like Esther, step into God’s favor. You will be the difference maker.

Arise, Esther! It’s time to arise!

Love, LINDA EVANS SHEPHERD

PUBLISHER, LEADING HEARTS MAGAZINE