Destroyed for Being Different?

During my time in the Word this morning, it only took two verses for me to get what I needed to start my day. The two verses that I read were Esther 3:8-9. It reads,

“Then Haman approached King Xerxes and said, “There is a certain race of people scattered through all the provinces of your empire who keep themselves separate from everyone else. Their laws are different from those of any other people, and they refuse to obey the laws of the king. So it is not in the king’s interest to let them live. If it please the king, issue a decree that they be destroyed, and I will give 10,000 large sacks of silver to the government administrators to be deposited in the royal treasury.” (emphasis mine)

Essentially, in these verses Haman is trying to develop a scheme to demolish a whole demographic of people. As a person who’s been seen as different all my life, immediately my heart ached over the countless people who have been destroyed for being different. If we’re not careful, we will find ourselves attempting to trade who we really are for who others desire us to be. When we choose to show up as someone other than who God created us to be, that’s even more destructive than anyone’s derogatory declarations. Why? Because your destiny is tied to your difference. You are different by design. Your difference is part of God’s divine plan. It’s your difference that distinguishes and differentiates you.

So, don’t be disturbed, distracted, or defensive over other people’s delusions. Don’t disfigure what God delights in. Don’t downplay what God wants to endorse. The very thing people dog you about today, may be the very thing that digs the well they drink from tomorrow. Even though it may feel devastating, you need to know you’re not being destroyed for being different. You’re being developed to fulfill your destiny.

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