Esther was prepared for 12 months before she had that moment but sometimes that season of preparation can feel like delay sometimes it can feel like um a season of waiting sometimes it can feel like you're just like sitting there twiddling your thumbs like what is God doing but God Was preparing Esther for a moment he was preparing her for her calling he was preparing her for something that she had been called before she was born to do and walk out so we have to learn to Embrace those seasons of preparation not despise those Small Beginnings not despise those moments of waiting and realize that God is positioning us to help us fulfill our calling in the [Music] future hi I'm Megan Marcelino and I want to welcome you back to Generations at the table thank you so much for pulling up a seat and joining me today you know we recently talked about the Hebrew month of Adar but today I want to talk to you specifically about perm and some of this is going to cover a little bit of that material again but I want it I feel like it's really important for us um I'm speaking to you specifically as women I really feel and not that this message isn't for men but I really do feel like perum how does it matter to us as women as wives as mothers as people in ministry as people in business like how what what is the impact that this has on us whenever we celebrate the Feast of the Lord whenever we celebrate Shabbat I'm asking the Lord well what does this mean for me today because if you tell me that this is to be remembered for my Generations if this is going to be remembered and to do this for your generations and to recall the story and the importance of it well what does it mean now in 2025 what will it mean next year in 2026 like how does this how what are you speaking to me and how does this impact my life and my culture and my decisions and I think that that's a really big disconnect is that people look at the Jewish roots of their faith and they see things like it was a lesson to be learned instead of that it's something that can actively be applied to our life that it is a structure that it is a skeleton if you will and if you follow the path that the Lord has given if you follow kind of that that overview those directions that flight plan that it is going to work for you in 2025 just like it did thousands of years ago that God is the same yesterday today forever but it's not just something to be understood it's something to be applied and that it truly impacts our identity and the very Foundation of our faith that this is who we are and this is how we live and this is our cycle and so I think that it's really important with the story of story of PM that we embrace the lessons there and we think about how we can apply them as women today as men today as children today wherever you are in your season whoever you are there is a really personal application so if you know the story Esther was prepared for 12 months before she had that moment but sometimes that season of preparation can feel like delay sometimes it can feel like um a season of waiting sometimes it can feel like you're just like sitting there twiddling your thumbs like what is God doing but God Was preparing Esther for a moment he was preparing her for her calling he was preparing her for something that she had been called before she was born to do and walk out so we have to learn to embrace those seasons of preparation not despise those Small Beginnings not despise those moments of waiting and realize that God is positioning us to help us fulfill our calling in the future and so it's it's for such a time as this and sometimes we feel I think like it's like it's frustrating the grind the day to day maybe it's the day to day of motherhood maybe it's the dayto day of your work and you just feel like you're doing the same thing over and over but we need to remember that God has positioned us and placed Us in these seasons for such a time as this and there isn't a moment when that doesn't apply and so even if you don't feel it and it doesn't feel glamorous this is a moment this is a season this is a phase and it is passing but how can you embrace it for what it is PM reminds us that God positions us for our assignments long before we understand it it is a reminder that we have been positioned way before we're going to fully understand we may know who we are but that may be hidden deep inside of us but there will be a moment where that is revealed not only to us but to others there is a moment when when decision arrives where we have to choose to embrace our identity and walk it out there will be a moment where there's risk there will be a moment where it's a little bit scary but the story of Pam shows us that we have to step out in obedience no matter what it's what Esther said if I perish I perish but she was going to be obedient to the call she was going to be obedient to fulfill what God had she was totally surrendered and perm teaches us the importance of surrender that if I perish I perish that I am here for this moment and I'm going to do what God asked for me to do I'm going to walk in the fullness of my identity I'm going to walk in the fullness of what God has for me all of those 12 months of preparation might have felt like a moment that was lacking fullness but it led to operating in the fullness of who she was called to be and so in this in these seasons for us I think that it can feel like I'm just waiting on God to do something and not recognizing that the fullness is just around the corner but you can't give up because if you give up you're going to miss it and so we celebrate purum as a moment of like we talked about before a Divine reversal but it was almost a moment also a moment of release and not just for Esther see it was Esther's release but it was a reversal for the entire nation look at the look at the promise look at the activation of one person what that can do for a nation of people and so for you I would encourage you whatever role that you're in in your family is when that Divine reversal happens for you that is happening for the generations it's happening for your family it's happening for your children it's happening for your grandchildren to realize that when God unlocks something in US it can trickle down and at the same time when we are stuck in bondage that bondage trickles down so this is a moment for us to seek the Lord and say Lord what can you do in me to release your promises for good your promises for abundance in the Next Generation I want to walk in the fullness of my identity I am willing to risk it all if I perish I perish but they're going to be free I'm going to do what it takes as a mother I'm going to do what it takes as a wife I'm going to do what it takes as a leader in business or in Ministry and you may not even feel like a leader but you are a leader of your own life and you need to recognize that your decisions your decisions for obedience your decisions to step out in faith are going to trickle down and tremendous blessing for the generations to come but at the same time I said it again and I'll say it say it now if you choose to stay stuck that is also going to impact the Next Generation so this is an opportunity at Pam for us to step out and say no I'm going to step into the calling the identity and the promise that you have for me and I'm going to step out in boldness and in faith for such a time as this so what if the season that you are sitting in right now that you are waiting in right now this season of preparation is preparing you for a Divine moment that you cannot yet see see I think that's the beauty of the story of PM is she we're looking at it from from this perspective of knowing the end of the story Esther was not she could have been you know killed in the moment she was stepping out of protocol but she was stepping out in faith and in obedience and willing to sacrifice you to sacrifice for the good of her people and I believe the Lord has called us to live like that we are willing to give in Ministry we are willing to sacrifice we are willing to do what costs us we are willing to be misunderstood for the good for the greater good for the generations to come but one of the hardest places is that in between moment it's that middle moment it's the uncertainty of preparation but what do we rest in I think we rest in the promises that we know that are in the word that God is good that God has prepared a future for us and a hope for us and we can press in because of that we know that what he has for us on the other side is good and for our favor and so Proverbs 35-6 says trust in the Lord completely and do not rely on your own opinions with all of your heart rely on Him to guide you and he will lead you in every decision that you make so as Esther was in this 12 months of refining and 12 months of training it might have felt slow it might have felt repetitive but God is saying I will lead you in every decision you make do you ever feel decision fatigue I I know that I do sometimes I'm just like please I can't handle one more decision I can't decide what to make for dinner I can't decide what the kids are going to wear I can't I just don't I don't want to make one more decision but we need to trust that in life the Lord is going to lead us in every decision we're going to make and we are going to be faced with a lot of decisions you are going to be faced with Crossroads but if you are in the word and you are staying in worship and you are diligent to be a disciple you can trust that he is leading and that he is guiding you from that place of that innermost Holy Spirit witness for me I think that is one of my big fears in full transparency is I don't ever want to step out into what it I want if it's outside of what he wants for me and sometimes I fear it's like is this me or is this him are you opening the door or am I pushing it open and I think that that's a tremendous balance but my check for myself is is that if it is truly my desire to walk in his highest and best if I am staying in the word and I am staying full of the Holy Spirit then the only thing I can do is trust that those decisions I'm making are in alignment with his purpose and his calling because they align with the word they align with the prophetic words that have been spoken over me I'm just I'm sharing with you my discipline now if I've been busy and I've been outside the word and I feel like I'm making decisions from an emotional place or a circumstance or a place of circumstance I have to correct myself and say hey are you making these decisions from a place of god-given opportunity of God's invitation or are you making them out of fear are you making them out of um basically uh you know impatience where are you making those decisions from and then that requires a course correction but if I feel like I have been pressing into the Lord and seeking the Lord and trying then I feel pretty confident that my decisions are going to be in alignment with that he has for me and if they're not if I make a mistake then I know that there's Grace and I know that there's forgiveness and making mistakes is really hard but you know what sometimes we learn so much from those mistakes that is one of the lessons that my parents have taught me is that it's okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them I have definitely made my share of mistakes I have made mistakes as a mom as a wife as someone in Ministry leadership I've had to go to my husband I've had to go to my kids you know just last night at dinner I snapped at Arabella she asked me a question like three times in a row and I answered her and it's like she wasn't listening to me and at the third time I kind of snapped and I just saw the hurt roll over her and I realized that yeah she should have been listening those first two times but I shouldn't have snapped at her I had had a long day I was feeling overwhelmed with other things and it wasn't a response to her so what did I do I go I went to her and I said hey I'm sorry I made a mistake Mom shouldn't have snapped um I wish that you had been listening but here that was that's not your fault this is my fault this is my issue and I could just see that like healing wash over her that an adult had okay I'm sorry I made a mistake that this isn't always you and so when we do make those mistakes we need to go to others and ask for forgiveness and likewise go to the Lord and ask for forgiveness because we're not going to get through this life without a lot of mistakes with a lot a lot of bumps without you know some injuries in the midst right we're going to that's just part of it but the goal is to get to our destination and to advance the kingdom and unlock our kingdom Destinies and that comes with some whoops moments but preparation seasons are never wasted if we press in to What the Lord Has for us if we press in with obedience they can be wasted if we choose to Veer off in our own path to create our own ishmail to create our own destiny and not wait on the Lord if we choose to nip it too soon then they can be wasted but if we press in the Lord can use that so I think the question we have to ask ourselves is are you stuck am I stuck or am I being positioned that's the question and that's the question between you and the lord well if you're being positioned then how do you wait on the Lord in a non-passive way but in hope hope and anticipation and if you are stuck what do you need to repent of what do you need to change to get unstuck stop fighting the season that is something I tell myself Megan stop fighting the season you know we have a a newborn in the house well she's not she's three months old right now and sometimes I feel like I'm so I'm like with the newborn and I'm missing out with the other kids and sometimes I feel guilt about that like Mom Gil like I'm missing these moments and I remember feeling that when Joseph was born for Arabella I remember it with Matthew and and now here I am with Willow so it's just like a moment but you know what I got to stop fighting the season because it lifts and before you know it they're an active part of the family and they're running around with their siblings and and you're able to be more balanced but this is just a moment and I can't I can't focus like this is forever this is what life's going to be like and that sometimes it feels like that when you're in those those you know that newborn face it's like oh my gosh this is what it's going to be like forever but I know as well as anyone I've done this multiple times before it changes so quickly and so recognize that you're just in a moment don't fight the season and look for growth in yourself not just movement forward you know we don't always get to move forward to the PACE that we want but we can continue our spiritual growth we can continue our spiritual discipleship and I think it's okay in those moments to embrace dissatisfaction because dissatisfaction and being unsatisfied in a moment it moves us and it pushes us forward Paul and I have had many conversations about if everything had been going well with XYZ then we would never have made this decision to change and look at the beauty that has come from this change this can happen in Ministry this can happen in business this can happen in your marriage like hey I'm not happy with this situation I want something different but it's that dissatisfaction that pushes us to the better so embrace it don't hate it but recognize what needs to change and recognize that it can Propel you and push you into your future when you are wrestling with your identity though that I think those moments of dissatisfaction cause you to question even more who am I what was I made for you need to be able to embrace a dissatisfaction and know who you are that you have been called for such a time as this Esther 210 says that Esther had not revealed her people or family for morai had charged her not to reveal it Esther initially hid her identity but she still owned who she was on the inside she did not forget it may have been hidden from the outside but she did not forget in the inner races of her heart who she who she was who she was called to be and I think okay so how do we do that how do we reinforce our identity for us as a family we do that by being in the word and by connecting with the roots of our faith we are constantly reminded who we are at every Shabbat this is who you are this is who you are called to be that your culture is not going to reflect the world around you and the feasts of the Lord they are inconvenient often it is not necessarily the most opportune time but we pull ourselves up we continue to celebrate we continue to honor them with our time and with our finances and that reinforces our identity so that even in those seasons of waiting we don't forget who we are even in those Seasons where it feels like we're being hidden we don't forget who we are and that's what really matters Ephesians 2:10 says we have become his poetry a recreated people that will fulfill the destiny he has given each of us that is what the Lord has for us that we are a recreated people that will fulfill the destiny that he has given us and what happens with that that happens when like the story of Pam we push into who we really are we push into surrender we push into risk we push into boldness and we step up and we say yes for such a time as this I am going to fulfill the call in my life I am going to fulfill the Mandate I am going to take the risk I'm going to do what's uncomfortable but I'm going to follow the um the example of Esther to own my own identity in Yeshua to declare the truth over myself of who I really am and that I'm going to walk in this path and I am going to prosper morai didn't tell Esther to wait until she felt confident in herself he told her to step up because it was time so the timing of the Lord the timing of the Lord pum just reinforces the importance of us not only knowing who we are but knowing the timing of the Lord and being Discerning of that Esther operated understanding the timing of the Lord she invited the king to her table multiple times like she understood the timing and she also understood the enemy that was hmon and she operated knowing her identity knowing the timing of the Lord and knowing the intents of the enemy that is something that we can really per pull from purum for us today and say I'm going to know who I am I'm G to op I'm going to live in your timing and I'm going to know that the enemy has an assignment against me to annihilate me but I am going to through obedience I'm going to overcome that through Obedience of preparation I'm going to walk into what you have for me and I'm going to overcome the attempts of the enemy thank you so much for pulling up a a seat at the table with me today I hope that this that this story of pum that this discussion of pum has helped fill you um in a way that you can see the modern application that this isn't just something to know about that this is something to apply that this is something that we can step into I hope that you feel that you can step into that as a mother as a wife as someone in ministry as a business leader as a homemaker regardless of where the Lord has called you recognize the season and the preparation and know that you too have been called to advance the kingdom forward that you have been called to unlock Kingdom Destinies your own and your families and in this season of service that the Lord has called you for such a time as this