In Esther chapter two, we encounter a detail that can easily be overlooked. Before Esther ever spoke publicly, her identity remained hidden. Rather than seeing this as fear or denial, this blog explores the possibility that God sometimes protects identity before He releases voice. Through the stories of Esther, Joseph, David and Jesus, we consider the relationship between timing, wisdom and spiritual formation, and why silence is not always the absence of purpose.

In this second teaching from Lessons from the Life of Esther, Rev. Kelleigh reflects on spiritual formation, identity and why God is often more concerned with the person beneath the position than the position itself. Through Esther’s story, we are reminded that before God entrusts us with weight, He first forms us in Him.

What had God already formed in Esther before courage was required of her? In this reflection from the book of Esther, Rev. Kelleigh Wooderson-Hudson explores hidden seasons, identity, grief, healing and the quiet providence of God. Through Scripture and personal reflection, she considers how God often does some of His deepest work long before anyone else can see it. Perhaps hiddenness is not the absence of God, but the place where formation begins.