Where do you see yourself in five years? It’s the quintessential interview question. It’s what we ask of every new graduate. Countless self-help book line the shelves of bookstores and libraries, seeking to help people ask that very question. And while having goals to work towards is a good and wise way to steward the time God gives us, none of us can say with certainty how our life is going to go. Esther’s life certainly did not. A young woman living in a foreign land, most likely she thought her uncle and caregiver, Mordecai, would arrange a marriage for her with another Israelite. She would start a family of her own and live out her life in quiet obscurity. But this plan got completely upturned as she went from this quiet life to the queen of the Persian empire. And in the midst of this upheaval, God was working out a plan of redemption for Israel. While Esther’s life did not go the way she anticipated, God was preparing her at each unexpected turn. In the same way, God prepares each of us for what He has planned, even when those preparations are not clear. This played out in the life of Rev. Canon Andrew White. Rev. White serves in Iraq, working for peace and reconciliation in the middle east. Yet before his time as a priest, Rev. White attended medical school to become an anesthesiologist. Immediately after completing his degree, God called him to the priesthood. Rev. White always wondered why God led him to medical school only to immediately call him to the priesthood until he was able to step in and aid with emergency IV placements while ministering to those receiving medical care. The way God leads us may not always seem linear and clear, but God is always at work in our lives. God also works in the waiting. Prior to starting in grounds and maintenance at Western Theological Seminary, David Becker had pursued a career in business. David went from job to job, never finding peace in what he was doing. He finally left the world of business and started flipping houses while he discerned what God wanted him to do next. David prayed, asking for God’s guidance. But God did not answer right away. So, David continued to work in the place it was. He continued to flip houses, gaining skill in maintenance and home repair as he waited. Throughout this season of waiting, God was preparing him for the next place God would lead him to. Even when things seem unclear, God is at work. Yet even as God calls us to go, God does not call us to go alone. When Esther agreed to go before the king, the first thing she did was ask for help. She asked Mordecai and the rest of her community in Susa to pray for her. So often, when we feel entrusted with a task, we feel the need to shoulder the responsibility on our own. In Lord of the Rings, Frodo leaves the rest of the fellowship, setting out for Mordor alone. When he tells his friend Samwise Gamgee that he is going to bring the ring to mount Doom on his own, Sam replies, “Of course you are, and I’m going with you!” Sam knew what Esther did. We are not meant to go it alone. We see this time and again throughout the Bible. In Genesis, God saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone, so God made Eve. God created community. In Exodus, Moses, the man God called to lead Israel out of Egypt, had help from his brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam. In 1 and 2 Samuel, David received help again and again, most notably from his enemy’s son, Jonathan. God does not call us to leave our limitations at the door when he invites us to join his work. Rather, God calls us to bring our full selves, limits and all, to him. Through leaning on others for help, we can live into the community that God has created us for. God was at work in Esther’s life and God is at work in the world as we live in this moment of “already/not yet.” Salvation has already been accomplished. It is done and paid for fully and completely by Jesus. No good work can add to it; no shortcoming can take away from it. Salvation has been won. But the full consequences of this salvation are being worked out in the world. And this is the work that God calls each of us to, together as the body of Christ. - NHRC Intern Jessica Loper