So in
chapter 3, Haman, the man in charge of the king’s princes, “seeks to destroy
all the Jews” (vs. 6). When the king gives Haman permission to do as he pleases
with the Jews, Mordecai is full of sadness. He shows the ultimate sign of
sorrow (4:1) and sends word to his cousin Esther. Mordecai wishes Esther to “implore
the king’s favor and to plead with him for her people” (vs.8).
Of
course, Esther freaks out at that idea, because she hasn’t been summoned by the
king for the past month. If she went before the king now, without being
summoned, she would be put to death (unless the king held out the golden scepter
so that she could live, vs.11). And this is Mordecai’s wise response:
“For if you
remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from
another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows
whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”
This
awesome reply from Mordecai reminds me a lot of a quote by C.S. Lewis, “Whatever
you do, [God] will make good of it. But not the good He had prepared for you if
you had obeyed Him.”
Mordecai
and C.S. Lewis’ advice, I think, is perfect wisdom regarding obedience. Even if
Esther didn’t plead to the king regarding saving her people, God would protect
His people. (We’ve seen God do this time and time again throughout history).
But when a task is at hand for us to do, and we’re afraid to do it, we can’t
just say, “Oh well it’s no big deal if I don’t do this because God will take
care of it.” Yes, He will take care of it, but how much sweeter will the results
be if we are the ones who carry out God’s wishes?
Something
my pastor said this morning was, “One of the most powerful things you will ever
do in your entire life is obeying Jesus Christ.” It’s true! Just as Esther has
been given royalty by marrying the king, so we also have become royal by being married
to our own Heavenly King. When difficult decisions come our way, we should
remember that God probably put that decision / task there as a chance to obey
Him, because “who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time
as this?” I love Esther’s response to Mordecai’s advice:
“Go, assemble
all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for
three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus
I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I
perish” (vs. 15-16).
I
LOVE her response! Not only does Esther choose to be obedient, but she also encourages
Mordecai to fast while also fasting herself. Now I’m not saying that every time
a difficult situation appears before you, you should fast – that’s between you
and God and what you feel led to do. But prayer
is what we should always do when
faced with a difficult situation. Esther also responds with an attitude we
should always have when obeying the Lord, “if I perish, I perish.” In other
words, I will obey my faithful God, no matter what the costs.
No comments:
Post a Comment