Esther Bible Journaling Tutorial

You might even wonder “Did I miss my calling?”… “What if I chose the wrong path?”… “Was I really supposed to end up HERE, and if so, what in the world am I here to do?”

But, God can still use you, even in the places or positions you didn’t expect (or want) to end up in!

I’m sure Esther never expected to become the Queen of Persia. But, there she was, winning the favor of King Xerxes, and being chosen as Queen. And as we see in the book of Esther, as Queen she had the opportunity to save the Hebrew people from being annihilated. WOW. Kind of an important task, right?

If you’ve never read Esther all the way through, I highly recommend you check it out before viewing this Esther Bible journaling tutorial. It’s a short book and very easy to read!

What is the main message of the book of Esther?

The book of Esther in summary, is about doing what’s right. Both Esther and her cousin Mordecai (who raised her) were in the right place at the right time, to be able to make a difference. Both had the opportunity to correct a wrong, to see that justice was served, and so forth.

And of course, in the most oft-quoted verse (my personal favorite—maybe yours too?), Mordecai encourages Esther to take the necessary action to save her people:

“If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”
Esther 4:14 (NLT)

So, what does the story of Esther teach us? It shows us that we each have the opportunity to make a difference! Perhaps we’re created “for such a time as this”—this time, this position, this geographical location, or wherever we find ourselves.

And that’s what we’re going to focus on for this Esther Bible journaling tutorial!

Esther Bible Journaling: with Acrylic Paint, Stamps, and Paint Pens

To bring this concept of divine purpose to life, I decided to go with a celestial theme. The galaxy stamp I used in the background represents God’s divine timing and His plans for each of our lives. And, the opportunities we have to make a difference, wherever we happen to be!

You can follow along with this Esther Bible journaling tutorial in the video here, and check out the supplies and instructions you’ll need to create your own Esther 4:14 page below.

SUPPLIES:

• Folk Art acrylic paint
• Golden acrylic glazing liquid
• Illustrated Faith Paint It cards
• Hero Arts galaxy stamp
• Delicata Golden Glitz ink pad
• Crown stamp
• Ranger Archival Ink black stamp pad
• Finetec metallic watercolor paints
• Uni Posca gold and silver paint pens
• Uni Posca white paint pens
• Pigma Micron pen (black)

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS:

If you want to follow along, these are the exact steps I took to create this Esther Bible journaling page. But, as always, feel free to use whatever supplies you have on hand, choose different colors or themes, or do whatever you feel led to do!

1. FIRST THINGS FIRST: If you’re using a regular journaling Bible (with thin paper), I recommend prepping your page with gesso first. Or, if you’re using an Illustrating Bible, feel free to skip the gesso.
2. Start by thinning your acrylic paint with glazing liquid or water (I usually use at least as much glazing liquid as paint). This makes the paint transparent, so as not to cover up your Bible text. Then, use a paint card to apply the thinned paint all over the page.
3. After your first layer of paint is dry, apply some (undiluted) paint to the margin of the page. You can use the same color as I did, or choose a different color for this step! If you find one layer isn’t dark enough, let it dry, then add another layer. The paint should be dark enough that the white paint pen will stand out against the background.
4. Next, stamp your celestial galaxy stamp (or other stamp of your choosing) in the upper right corner of the page. I used Delicata Golden Glitz ink for mine, but of course you could go with silver or any other color you like. Since the gold didn’t show up very well on my Esther Bible journaling page, I decided to go back over it with an Uni Posca gold paint pen.
5. If you like, add a crown stamp or other royalty-inspired stamp. Mine was stamped with black Archival Ink, and painted in with Finetec metallic paint. (Optionally, after painting you can go back over your stamp outline with a Pigma Micron pen as I did, in case your painting job covered up part of the outline!).
6. Now, for the main focus—“for such a time as this”—I created a sketch of my own hand lettering (just to make sure it would all fit and look like I wanted). Then, I used a white Uni Posca paint pen to draw the letters on the Bible page. But if you’d like an easier method, you could always use alphabet stamps to accomplish a similar result.
7. The final step for this Esther Bible journaling page, is simply to write down some notes. Think about what Esther’s story, and verse 4:14 specifically, means to you—and record your thoughts in your Bible. For this, I made some bullet arrows with a silver paint pen, and wrote my notes with a Pigma Micron pen.

So, what lessons from the book of Esther can you take away from this? Esther reminds me that I’m here (wherever I am right now) for a reason, and that I should always be on the lookout for opportunities to make a difference. Her courage is an inspiration, to press on and do what’s right, even if it’s risky or uncomfortable.

Barbara Austin

Hi! Thank you so much for visiting Divine Creative Love. I’m a Jesus-lovin’ girl, lettering artist, designer, and general creative-at-heart. And, I have narcolepsy. I blog about faith in God, overcoming challenges, and creative topics such as Bible journaling. If you’re new here, be sure and subscribe to my list so you won’t miss anything!