Our destinies many times are shaped by our choices. After Esther became King Ahasuerus’ queen, she was faced with a choice to step out of her comfort zone and exercise her authority as queen to save the Jewish people or stand idly by and watch them perish (Esth. 2:16-17, 4:6-8). She arrived at this crossroad just as Mordecai revealed to her the evil plot set up by Haman (Esth. 4:9).
She had a life-and-death choice to make that would determine her destiny and that of her people. We now know she made the choice to rescue her people at any cost (Esth. 4:15-16). She is known as a heroine, a woman of great courage and bravery, a woman of influence. How you will be known is determined by the choices you make. Making the right choices at the right time, often in difficult circumstances, may make the difference between fulfilling God’s plan for your life and missing it completely.
Choice plays a major part in fulfilling destiny. Choice is an act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities. It is the power, right or liberty to choose. A decision is a choice that you make after thinking about it. A decision is a determination arrived at after consideration. It is a conclusion or resolution reached after weighing your options. It’s actually in your times of decision that destiny is shaped. Choices make the difference in our lives. Making simple good choices daily in our lives can lead to great accomplishments.
The Lord has given mankind a beautiful gift in the dignity of choice. When making a decision, you must always begin with the heart and mind of God. You must start with what is right according to the principles of the kingdom and not what is acceptable.
This is why Esther, her handmaidens and the Jewish people prayed and fasted for three days before Esther attempted to get an audience with the king and plead their case (Esth. 4:15-16). She needed to know the heart and mind of God and line up with it so that His destiny for her would be fulfilled. How else would she have known? How else will you know?
Thinking back on your prayer times, what have you heard God calling you to do? What situations has He called you to address? What problems has He anointed you to solve?
When making choices, we must consider our values because values impact our decision-making. Values are something we believe in so much that they guide our behavior. Values help determine how we weigh the consequences of choosing one option or another. To make the right choices, our values need to be aligned with God’s values. We need the wisdom, integrity and will to make the right choices for ourselves.
Esther’s choice to take a road less traveled yielded significant results. God has given us the beauty of choice to make decisions and tap into the pure potential around us. We must create structure by choosing, and God will breathe life into our decisions. Our lives are nothing but the result of collective choices we have made along the way. We must take responsibility for our choices instead of letting others and circumstances shape our lives. Take action toward your own progress—which most of the time requires making the righteous, hard choice—and be willing to pay the price to accomplish God’s purpose for your life. {eoa}
This article is excerpted from Chapter 4 of The Esther Anointing by Michelle McClain-Walters (Charisma House 2020).
Curt Landry 
Michael L. Brown 
Rabbi Eric Tokajer 
