The Esther Era: A Season of Preparation, Purification, and Divine Positioning

Many Christians speak about being in their “Esther era” or “Esther season,” using the Bible story of Book of Esther as a picture of a woman being prepared by God for something greater than herself. While the phrase has become increasingly common, its true meaning is often much deeper than many realise. The Esther era is not simply about beauty, favour, or stepping into influence. It is not merely about being chosen, entering a relationship, or reaching a place of outward success. Rather, it is about becoming the kind of woman God can trust with purpose. It is a season of refinement—physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually—before stepping into divine assignment.

Before Esther ever wore a crown, she went through a long and intentional process of preparation. Her rise to the palace did not happen overnight, nor was her favour simply the result of outward beauty. Before she entered into a place of visibility, she spent time in hidden preparation. This is one of the most important aspects of what many now call an Esther season. It is often a quiet season where God is working deeply beneath the surface, shaping character, healing wounds, strengthening identity, and preparing a woman for what lies ahead. It can feel slow and, at times, uncomfortable, but hidden seasons are often where the most important transformation takes place.

One of the clearest examples of Esther’s preparation is the twelve month purification process she underwent before meeting the king. Scripture tells us that for six months the women were treated with oil of myrrh, followed by another six months with perfumes and beauty treatments. This process was deliberate and complete. It reminds us that preparation is not rushed. It requires patience, discipline, and care.

The physical preparation in Esther’s story is significant and should not be overlooked. Caring for the body is not shallow; it can be an act of stewardship. For many women, an Esther season includes a renewed commitment to physical wellbeing and personal care. This may involve exercising regularly, becoming more disciplined with food choices, improving sleep, strengthening the body, and learning to care for oneself in ways that reflect honour and respect. It may also include skin conditioning, hair care, grooming, and taking greater intentionality in personal presentation. Esther’s preparation reminds us that there is nothing wrong with wanting to look polished and well cared for when the motivation comes from self-respect rather than vanity.

At the same time, Esther’s beauty treatments were never just about external appearance. The use of myrrh carries deep spiritual meaning throughout Scripture. Myrrh is associated with purification, healing, consecration, and surrender. It symbolises cleansing and preparation, but also the painful process of letting go of what no longer serves God’s purpose in your life. For this reason, many understand Esther’s season of myrrh as symbolic of the inner healing that often takes place before elevation.

This inner preparation is often the most challenging part of the Esther era. It is the breaking down before the building up. During this season, God may begin to expose hidden wounds, unresolved pain, rejection, fear, insecurity, and unhealthy patterns. He may begin removing identities that were formed through survival, hurt, or striving and replacing them with something stronger and more grounded in truth. Healing can be uncomfortable because it often requires confronting what has been buried. It may involve letting go of bitterness, recovering from heartbreak, breaking unhealthy attachments, and allowing God to rebuild your understanding of who you are. It is a cleansing season, not only of the body, but of the heart and mind.

Another remarkable aspect of Esther’s story is the wisdom she displayed in how she carried herself and how she spoke. Esther did not move impulsively. She understood timing. She knew when to remain silent and when to speak with courage. Her words were thoughtful, measured, and effective. This likely reflects part of her upbringing under the care of Mordecai, her guardian and mentor, who appears to have been a man of wisdom and discernment, well studied. Connected to the king’s gate, Mordecai would likely have been familiar with administration, communication, and public affairs, speaking many languages, and Esther may have learned much from his influence.

For many women, an Esther season includes learning this same kind of wisdom. It may be a time when God is refining how you communicate, teaching you to listen more carefully, to speak with grace, and to respond with maturity rather than emotion. Esther reminds us that favour is not found only in outward appearance. It is also found in presence, composure, discernment, and the ability to carry oneself with dignity. How you speak matters. How you respond matters. How you make others feel matters. Esther’s favour came not only from her beauty, but from the quiet strength and wisdom she carried within.

One of the most defining moments in Esther’s story is her commitment to prayer and fasting. When the time came for her to step into her purpose and face one of the most dangerous moments of her life, she did not rely solely on her preparation or her position. Before approaching the king, she called for a fast. She sought God first. This reveals something essential about the Esther era: spiritual preparation must remain at the centre of everything else.

Physical discipline, emotional healing and personal growth all matter, but without spiritual clarity, none of it is enough. An Esther season is often marked by deeper prayer, greater dependence on God, and a renewed hunger for His voice. It may involve fasting, reading Scripture more intentionally, seeking wisdom, and asking God to align every area of life with His purpose. It is a season of surrender and trust, where the heart learns to ask difficult but necessary questions: What is God teaching me? What needs to change within me? What am I being prepared for?

Finally, Esther’s story reminds us that preparation is always connected to purpose. She was not placed in the palace merely to enjoy comfort, status, or influence. She was positioned there for assignment. God used her location, her access, and her favour to protect and deliver others. Her life was not only about what she received; it was about what she was entrusted to carry.

This is what makes the Esther era so significant. It is not simply about becoming a better version of yourself. It is about becoming prepared for the work God has called you to do. Sometimes that purpose may involve leadership, ministry, business, marriage, or family. Sometimes the purpose is not yet fully clear. But even when the destination is unknown, the preparation is still necessary.

To be in an Esther era is to trust that even in hidden places, God is at work. It is the season where He refines your body, strengthens your mind, heals your heart, and deepens your spirit. It is the myrrh before the mission, the discipline before the favour, the hidden room before the open door, and the quiet preparation before divine positioning. The Esther era is not simply about being chosen. It is about becoming ready to be entrusted.

A Prayer for the Esther Season

Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the seasons where You prepare us in hidden places. Thank You that nothing in our lives is wasted, and that even in times of waiting, You are forming something eternal within us.

Lord, in this Esther season, I surrender myself to Your shaping hands. Refine my heart where it has grown heavy, and purify my thoughts where they have become unclear. Heal what is wounded within me, and strengthen what is weak. Teach me to let go of anything that no longer aligns with Your purpose for my life.

Give me grace for the process, especially when it feels slow or difficult. Help me not to resist Your work in me, but to trust that You are preparing me with wisdom and care. Where there is insecurity, replace it with identity rooted in You. Where there is fear, establish peace. Where there is striving, bring rest.

Lord, also refine my outward life so that it reflects discipline, stewardship, and honour, not for vanity, but for Your glory. Shape my character, my words, and my responses so that I carry myself with wisdom, humility, and grace.

Teach me to walk closely with You in prayer. Give me sensitivity to Your voice and courage to obey You, even when it requires sacrifice. Let my life be aligned with Your timing, not my impatience.

And above all, prepare me not only for blessing, but for purpose. If You are positioning me, also make me ready to carry what You entrust. Let my life be used for Your glory and for the good of others.

Like Esther, make me faithful in the hidden place so I can be faithful in the open door. I trust Your process, I trust Your timing, and I trust Your purpose for my life.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

5 Mind Games the Enemy Uses When You are at Your Lowest

There are days when nothing dramatic happens on the outside, yet inside everything feels unsettled. You go through your normal routine, but your thoughts feel heavy, anxious, and scattered. Before you even realize it, your mind is filled with fear, confusion, and pressure that does not seem to match your actual circumstances. If you have ever had a day like that, you know how real it feels, even though nothing visibly went wrong.

What is happening in those moments is not random. There is a battle taking place in your mind. The enemy is not only after what you do, he is after how you think, what you believe, and how you see yourself. Many of his tactics are not based on truth, they are built on distortion and suggestion, and if you are not careful, they begin to shape your inner world quietly.

Scripture tells us that Satan is a liar and the father of lies, and it also calls us to take our thoughts captive and renew our minds. That means the battlefield is not only around us, it is within us. And if we learn to recognize the patterns, we can begin to break them.

Let’s walk through five common mind games the enemy uses, especially when you are already feeling low.

1. The “What If” Trap

One of the most familiar attacks comes through “what if” thoughts. What if everything falls apart. What if I fail. What if God does not come through. What if something happens to me or the people I love. It can start quietly, but before long your imagination is running ahead of you, creating scenarios that fill you with fear.

You do not always notice when it begins, but it can quickly take over your peace. What is happening is anxiety, and at its core, it is placing faith in the worst possible outcome instead of trusting God with the future.

Jesus spoke clearly about this when He told us not to worry about tomorrow. The way forward is not to pretend those thoughts are not there, but to replace them. Instead of “what if,” begin to anchor yourself in “even if.” Even if things do not go as planned, God will carry me. Even if I stumble, He will lift me. Even if I do not understand, He is still faithful.

This shift may feel simple, but it changes the direction of your faith.

2. Condemnation After You Fall

Another common pattern shows up after you make a mistake. The moment you fall short, a voice begins to speak. It tells you that you are a hypocrite, that God is tired of you, that there is no point in trying again. If you are honest, those thoughts can feel very convincing in the moment.

It is important to recognize the difference between conviction and condemnation. Conviction draws you back to God. It invites you to repent and return. Condemnation pushes you away and makes you feel like you do not belong anymore.

Many people stay stuck not because they sinned, but because they believed the lie that they cannot come back. Scripture tells us clearly that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. That truth does not change based on how you feel.

The way out is not to withdraw, but to move toward God again. Confess, receive forgiveness, and take a step forward. It may feel uncomfortable at first, but grace meets you there.

3. Comparison and Insecurity

Comparison is one of the quiet ways the enemy drains your confidence. You look at someone else’s life, their calling, their progress, and before you realize it, you begin to measure yourself against them. It is easy to forget that you are often comparing your real life to someone else’s highlight.

This can leave you feeling behind, overlooked, or unqualified. Thoughts begin to form that maybe God is using others more, or that you missed your moment. I have had to check my own heart in moments like this, because it can subtly shift your focus away from what God is doing in your life.

Comparison does not motivate you, it distracts you. It pulls you out of your lane and into someone else’s. But calling is not a competition. Grace is not handed out based on comparison. God works with each person individually, and your assignment is tied to your journey.

One of the ways to break this cycle is to learn to celebrate others while remaining faithful in your own season. Gratitude helps realign your perspective. Even when your season feels slow or hidden, God is still working.

4. When Delay Feels Like Denial

There are seasons when you are believing for something, praying, trusting, and yet nothing seems to move. Over time, it can begin to feel like God has said no, even if He never did. That thought can quietly weaken your faith if you are not careful.

The enemy often whispers that if God was going to act, He would have done it already. That nothing is changing, and this is just how things will be. You might not say it out loud, but internally it can start to settle in.

But delay is not the same as denial. God does not operate on our timelines, and there are seasons where He is working beneath the surface in ways we cannot see. Many times, He is forming something in us before He releases something to us.

Faith learns to hold onto God’s promise even when the timing feels unclear. It does not rely on the clock, it rests on God’s character. When you stay anchored in that, you remain steady even in waiting.

5. Isolation and Mental Fog

Another strategy the enemy uses is to bring confusion and then push you into isolation. Your thoughts feel heavy, unclear, and scattered. You feel tired, distracted, maybe even numb, and at the same time there is a pull to withdraw from people.

It can feel easier to stay to yourself, but that is exactly where the struggle deepens. Isolation gives those thoughts more space to grow. I have noticed that when things stay hidden, they tend to become heavier over time.

Clarity often comes when things are brought into the light. First, bring it to God honestly. Then bring it to someone you trust. A mature believer, a leader, someone who can help you process what you are going through.

At the same time, do not neglect the simple things that help stabilize your mind. Rest, movement, time outside, and worship all play a role. Worship especially has a way of lifting your perspective. The situation may not change immediately, but how you see it begins to shift.

How to Break the Cycle

If you recognize yourself in any of these patterns, it does not mean you are weak. It means you are in a battle, and you are learning how to fight.

Start by identifying the thought for what it is. Name it clearly. Then replace it with truth from Scripture. Speak it out if you need to. Truth has a way of cutting through confusion when it is applied consistently.

Do not agree with thoughts that do not align with God’s word. You cannot always stop them from coming, but you can choose whether they stay. Refocus your attention on God, especially through worship, because it changes how you see everything else.

And finally, stand your ground. Scripture tells us to resist the enemy, and when we do, he must flee. That means you are not powerless in this process.

A Final Thought

If this reflects what you have been walking through, you are not alone. And you are not stuck. Sometimes the battle feels intense because it is happening where no one else can see it, but that does not make it any less real.

God has already given you what you need to overcome. One of the strongest tools you have is truth. When you begin to renew your mind with it, things start to shift from the inside out.

And it does not happen all at once, but over time you will notice that the same thoughts that once controlled you no longer have the same power.

If this blessed you, I share more on this in my book Change Your Mind, where I go deeper into how to renew your mind and overcome these struggles.

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** By Lana Savchuk / Photo by Liza Summer at Pexels

Be The Best Version of YOU!

You were never created to be a copy. You were created to be uniquely, wonderfully, authentically YOU.

In a world full of comparison, pressure, and unrealistic expectations, many people spend their lives trying to become someone else. They compare their appearance, success, personality, relationships, achievements, and even their journey to the lives of others. Social media has made it easy to admire everyone else while forgetting the beauty and value of who we already are.

But the truth is this: you were never designed to be a carbon copy of another person. God did not accidentally create you. He intentionally formed you with purpose, individuality, gifts, personality, and value that no one else on earth carries in the exact same way.

Your fingerprints are unique. Your eye irises are unique. Your voice, your thoughts, your experiences, and your story are completely unique. Out of billions of people, there has never been another you, and there never will be again. That is not random, it’s by God’s design.

When you truly understand that, you stop chasing the exhausting pressure of becoming someone else and start learning how to become the healthiest, strongest, most authentic version of you.

1. Understand Who You Are in Christ

Before the world told you who you should be, God already knew who you were. Your identity is not found in your weight, your income, your relationship status, your followers, your mistakes, your past, or other people’s opinions. Your identity begins with knowing you are loved by God.

You are not valuable because you achieved something. You are valuable because you were created by Him. The Bible says we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” That means your life carries purpose and meaning even on the days you do not feel confident or strong.

Sometimes people spend years trying to earn worth that God already gave them freely. You do not need to become someone else to be worthy of love. You simply need to walk in the fullness of who God created you to be.

That also means you do not need to imitate someone else’s personality, appearance, gifts, or journey. That someone else is already taken. Be YOU. The world does not need another imitation; it needs the authentic person God created when He made you, as He has a plan and purpose for your life.

2. Wherever You Are in Life Start There

Many people delay their happiness. They tell themselves, “I’ll be happy when I lose weight,” “I’ll be confident when I earn more money,” or “I’ll finally love myself once I reach my goal.” But life is happening right now.

Growth matters. Goals matter. Discipline matters. But your life should not be placed on hold until you arrive somewhere. Love who you are today while still working toward who you want to become. You can appreciate yourself and still improve yourself. Both can exist together.

Wherever you are physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually: start there. God’s grace is sufficient for the day and His mercies are new every morning. Every healthy choice you make, every prayer you whisper, every step toward healing, and every act of discipline is shaping your future, even when the progress feels small.

A lot of people stay stuck because of procrastination and fear of failure. They wait for the “perfect” moment, the perfect mindset, the perfect circumstances, or the certainty that everything will work out. But growth does not happen in comfort zones. Sometimes you have to take the step before you feel fully ready.

The truth is, it is a win-win situation when you try. Either you succeed, or you learn. Failure is not the opposite of growth, it is often part of the process. Every mistake teaches you something. Every setback shows you where you can improve. Every challenge builds resilience, wisdom, and strength for the next step forward.

So if you fall, get back up and start again. Do not let one bad day convince you that you have a bad life. Do not let one setback stop you from becoming who God created you to be.

You do not need to transform overnight. You simply need to keep moving forward. Each step you take is still a step in the right direction. Progress does not always happen quickly, those small choices begin to change your life.

3. Take Care of Your Health, Spirit, Mind, and Body

True health is not only physical. A person can look healthy outwardly while struggling deeply inwardly. Becoming the best version of yourself means caring for your physical health, your mental health, your emotional wellbeing, and your spiritual life.

Your body is a gift, so treat it with care, respect it. Move your body. Rest properly. Nourish yourself well. Drink water. Get fresh air. Sleep enough.

Mentally, protect your peace. Not every thought deserves your attention. Feed your mind with truth, wisdom, encouragement, and growth instead of constant negativity and comparison.

Spiritually, spend time with God. Pray. Reflect. Be still. Reconnect with your purpose. The strongest people are not always the loudest or most successful outwardly. Sometimes strength looks like getting back up after disappointment, choosing faith during uncertainty, forgiving, healing, and trusting God one more day.

4. Your Mindset Shapes Your Future

You are beautiful, smart, intelligent, and far more capable than you sometimes realise. The life you want does not begin the day everything becomes perfect. It begins the moment you start believing that change is possible for you.

Everything starts with mindset. The way you think shapes the way you live. If you constantly tell yourself, “I can’t do this,” “I’m not good enough,” or “I’ll never change,” those thoughts become limits you place on your own future. We can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us.

When you begin speaking life, hope, faith, and possibility over yourself, something shifts internally. You start walking differently, thinking differently, and try again differently, if one way doesn’t work, try another. Change happens when you do something different. Your mindset becomes the foundation for your growth.

However, dreams alone are not enough. You must build foundations underneath the vision to make it reality. Just like a strong tree needs deep roots before it can grow tall, your future also needs strong foundations: discipline, consistency, faith, patience, self-belief, healthy habits, and perseverance.

Small actions repeated daily create lasting transformation. A house built on weak foundations eventually collapses, but a life built carefully, intentionally, and patiently can withstand storms.

So do not rush the process. Water your mind with positivity. Protect your peace. Feed your spirit with truth. Take care of your health. Keep learning. Keep growing.

Most importantly, believe that you are capable of more than your fears tell you. God created you with purpose, gifts, intelligence, beauty, and uniqueness that this world needs. There is only one you.

So stop shrinking yourself trying to fit into somebody else’s identity. Be confident in who you are becoming. Even if progress feels slow, every step matters. One healthy choice, one disciplined day, one positive thought, one prayer, and one small improvement at a time, that is how strong foundations are built.

Over time, those foundations support the life, confidence, peace, and purpose you once only dreamed about.

5. Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

Comparison is one of the quickest ways to lose joy. Someone will always have more money, look better, achieve something faster, or seem more successful. But their journey is not your assignment.

Flowers do not compete with other flowers. They simply bloom where they are planted. God gave each person different gifts, timing, personalities, and paths. The moment you stop obsessing over becoming someone else, you finally create space to become yourself.

There is freedom in that. Freedom to grow at your own pace. Freedom to heal in your own time. Freedom to become who God created you to be instead of who the world pressures you to imitate.

6. Celebrate Small Steps, Not Just Big Milestones

One of the biggest mistakes people make is only celebrating the finish line. But transformation happens in the small daily decisions nobody sees.

Celebrate the first workout. Celebrate the healthier meal. Celebrate the prayer you whispered, the day you got out of bed despite anxiety, the boundaries you finally set, the small improvement, and the moment you chose not to quit.

Those moments matter more than you realise. Every step forward is still forward. Do not despise small beginnings. A mountain is climbed one step at a time.

Often, the little victories become the foundation for the bigger breakthroughs later. Learn to be proud of yourself for continuing, even before you have fully arrived.

7. Build Discipline with Grace

Growth is not about perfection. Some days you will feel motivated, and other days you will feel tired, discouraged, or frustrated. Keep going anyway. Even if you drop the ball, pick up from where you left off the next day.

Discipline is not punishment; it is self-respect. It is choosing what will help your future self instead of constantly giving in to what keeps you stuck.

But also remember that you are human. Do not speak to yourself with cruelty every time you fall short. Learn. Adjust. Continue. Remind yourself who you are in Christ, remember God’s promises.

God’s grace is not an excuse to stay stuck, but it is a reminder that failure is not the end of your story. You can begin again. Again and again if needed.

8. Your Journey Does Not Need to Look Like Anyone Else’s

Some people bloom early. Others bloom later. Some heal quickly, while others heal slowly. Some discover purpose young, and others find it through hardship.

Do not rush your journey trying to match someone else’s timeline. Growth is deeply personal. Trust the process God is walking you through, even when it feels slow.

Sometimes the seasons that feel the hardest are the seasons shaping you the most. Even in moments where you feel lost, unseen, or delayed, God is still working in your life.

Your story does not need to look like anyone else’s to still be meaningful, powerful, and beautiful.

Final Thoughts

The best version of you is not a perfect person. It is a person who keeps growing, keeps learning, keeps healing, keeps trusting God, keeps moving forward, and keeps showing up authentically.

You do not need to earn your worth because you already have it. You do not need to become somebody else because you were created with intentional uniqueness.

And wherever you are right now in life, start there. Take the next step, then another, then another. Celebrate the little victories along the way.

Because every small step taken in faith, growth, healing, and self-respect is a step in the right direction. Little by little, day by day, you become more fully the person God created you to be.

“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”

And the real YOU — the one God designed with purpose, uniqueness, and love, is more than enough.

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*** Photo by Anna Tarazevich at Pexels

The Name Above all Names

People think that using the Lord Jesus’s name as a curse word, or God’s name in vain, somehow diminishes who He is, but all it really reveals is how far our culture has fallen, where the King of Kings and Lord of Lords’ name, the One who gave them life, is used carelessly, casually, without fear.

Some even believe this cheapens Him, and because He has not struck them down dead on the spot, they assume, consciously or subconsciously, that He does not exist, or that they can continue in rebellion and their sinful lifestyles without consequence.

We who truly believe know otherwise. The only reason they have not been struck down is because the Lord is merciful and giving them time to repent. But it is only for a time, because when He returns there will be judgment, and all those who have shown such disrespect will bow and confess Jesus Christ is Lord.

In my own experience working in secular environments, I have seen this behaviour firsthand. At times, it felt deliberate, done in my presence because it was known I was a Christian. When I spoke up and asked whether they would use the names of other religious figures in the same way, the response was rarely repentance. More often, it was offence taken at the correction rather than reflection on the act itself.

Christians are often unprotected in secular environments or around the world. We are not called to respond with violence, destruction, or retaliation, but to peace, and because of this we are often targeted. We are those who won’t burn down buildings, behead people, or riot in the streets, and so, true to the sinful nature, we become targets for bullying behaviour, picked on and mistreated by those who hate the true God and His people, and thus it was with me. However, they rejected our Saviour first, and we are not above our Master.

So I learned that I could not confront everyone. In God’s providence, I left that environment. Looking back, I believe the Lord used that season to strengthen me, to teach me endurance, and to train me to defend my faith, not through anger, but through prayer and forgiveness. Most importantly, He taught me how to pray for those who persecuted me, and taught me to forgive them by choice, for they did not know to whom they did it, but they knew what they were doing.

There was a time this deeply unsettled me, until a friend shared how she responded in similar environments. When she hears the misuse of the Lord’s name, she immediately prays—for them to know Him, for their hearts to be softened, and for revelation of who Jesus truly is. That simple discipline changed my perspective. Instead of resentment, it became intercession.

I believe the Lord uses these incidents for us to pray for certain people, as He knows that we may be the first person to ever pray for their soul. At the same time, wisdom is needed. There are moments when we are called to speak, and moments when we are called to remain silent. God knows those whose hearts are ready, and we are called to trust Him to guide us.

This gave me peace and opened my eyes to something deeper: it is only the one true God’s name that is used in this way. The other gods belong to the enemy, Satan, and are of him, so he does not lead people to blaspheme his own. Instead, he uses the Lord’s name in vain to draw people closer to hell, adding to their judgment if they do not repent. But God always has the last laugh. He waits patiently, very patiently.

2 Peter 3:9
“The Lord is not slow in keeping that promise as some understand slowness, but is patient toward us, not wanting anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance.”

One thing that became clear to me is how widely the Lord’s name is used in this way across culture: media, entertainment, and everyday speech, often without thought. Even among those who claim to follow Him. Yet this is not something new. Scripture already speaks to the weight of His name and the seriousness of how it is treated.

Such is the world we live in, but only for a time.

Jesus said in:

Matthew 12:31–32
“And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”

And as my friend and I pray when we hear our precious Lord and Saviour’s name used as a curse word in our everyday lives, so widely blasphemed, we know that our loving Lord and Saviour works everything for good, and does all things well. His name, whether they like it or not, is on their lips, that can be turned—if willing—for their salvation and redemption.

I pray it will touch their hearts, and that the Lord gives them revelation of who He really is and lead them on the path of righteousness for His name’s sake. He came to save those who are lost, and through the Cross He has finished the work He came to do, there will be no excuses upon His return, only judgment.

Until then, may we continue the good fight of faith, praying that His Kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. For His is the power, His is the glory, His is the Kingdom forever. Amen.

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** Photo By Cottonbro Studios at Pexels

The BIG Reset: When Everything Is Revalued

“Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven. This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe” ~ Hebrews 12:26–28

The world and our personal lives can change suddenly, leaving everything feeling unstable. Countries go to war or face economic crises, and systems we relied on—financial, social, or political—start to fail. Things we thought were permanent suddenly feel fragile. News and headlines shift constantly. On a personal level, relationships break, jobs change, routines are disrupted, and priorities reorder themselves. What once seemed essential may lose value, and what we overlooked may suddenly feel important.

The Bible calls these moments “shaking.” God allows them not to destroy, but to show us what truly matters. Shaking exposes what is temporary—built by human effort—and highlights what is lasting. What feels like collapse or chaos can actually prepare us for the next stage of life.

Removing What Can’t Support the Next Stage

God often removes things from our lives that aren’t ready to support what comes next. This can include opportunities, habits, relationships, or personal ambitions. These changes aren’t punishment—they are protection. They can feel frustrating or painful, but the goal is to make sure what remains is strong enough for the next stage. Doors may close, and paths may shift because the next stage requires a stronger foundation. Life can feel like a constant race—comparing ourselves to others, chasing promotions, and trying to meet expectations. God may pull us out of that race, slowing circumstances, removing distractions, or redirecting energy. He may even keep us hidden for a period, working on our character, focus, and patience before we step into bigger responsibilities. Just as Paul spent time in Damascus preparing for his mission, or Moses spent decades in the desert before leading Israel, these quiet seasons are not wasted—they are preparation.

How God Sees Success and Value

The world often measures success by money, status, recognition, comfort, and control, but God sees it differently. In Jesus’ teachings, the greatest are those who serve others, and the humble inherit the most. Success is rarely instant. David was chosen to be king years before he actually ruled. Moses spent decades in obscurity before leading Israel. Paul spent time hidden before his mission became public. Their stories show that preparation, patience, and following God’s guidance matter more than speed or talent alone.

What Changes During a Reset

During a reset, ideas of success, security, identity, and even time are redefined. Worldly success is measured by achievements and recognition, but God’s success is measured by trust, obedience, and purpose. Instead of asking, “What can I achieve?” we begin asking, “What does God want me to do?” This may mean stepping away from competition entirely and focusing on purpose rather than comparison. Security, which we often build on money, plans, or connections, may be shaken to show that real stability comes from trusting God. Identity, often tied to jobs, roles, or achievements, may be stripped down to reveal our true calling. Taking a step back from applause or recognition can help us see our real purpose more clearly. God works on our character before giving us bigger responsibilities. Time is also seen differently. It is no longer just something to spend, but something to manage wisely. Growth happens in steps—preparation, waiting, pruning, and producing results. Moving too fast leads to burnout; moving too slow leads to stagnation. Following God’s timing helps life flow naturally.

Why Resets Happen

Change is necessary for growth. Just like seasons in nature, our lives go through seasons too. Moses had the desert before leading Israel, and Paul spent time hidden in Damascus before his public mission. Shaking removes what cannot last, and pruning removes what cannot support the next stage. Both are acts of care. Life slows or routines break because stepping into bigger responsibilities takes time and effort. When God pulls us out of the “rat race” or closes doors, it is often because the next stage of life cannot be built on constant exhaustion, comparison, or stress. What feels like a delay is often preparation.

What Comes After

Every reset carries a promise. When temporary things are removed, God often restores what is lasting and valuable. Ending one season prepares us for the next. The Big Reset is not about loss—it is about building stronger foundations and setting priorities straight. On the other side, life can become more stable, purposeful, peaceful, mature, and lasting. Slower, intentional progress may feel like a pause, but it is actually preparation. The goal is a life built on steady, strong foundations, not speed, comparison, or constant pressure.

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** Photo by Abdulvahap Demir at Pexels