this week i felt compelled & led to read the story of Esther
i believe it carries a beautiful message about
F A V O R
&
O B E D I E N C E
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as a young girl Esther lost both her parents & in turn was raised by Mordecai {a former exiled Jew}. the bible says that as Esther prepared herself in the twelve months to being considered for queen based upon King Xerxes' edict to "let the girl who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti," {who had previously disobeyed his wishes} that:
"Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her" {ch. 2 v. 15}
after her demeanor greatly pleased the King, Esther was celebrated & crowned queen. meanwhile, Haman, who Xerxes had appointed as highest noble, deeply resented Mordecai for his unwillingness to bow to him outside the king's gate. enraged, he created a plot to not only kill Mordecai but spread a massacre of every the Jew in the kingdom {unbenounced to Xerxes}. after discovering this, Mordecai sent word to Esther was immediately:
"to go to the kings presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people" {ch. 4 v. 8}
Esther was terrified to complete this task as the newly appointed queen. all her life, Mordicai had always intentionally asked her to a keep her nationality a secret. She pleaded with Mordecai:
"all the king's officials and the people of royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he be put to death. the only exception to this us for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life..." {ch. 4 v. 11}
in this i see a set up for f a v o r
{p l a c e d in a p o s i t i o n of p e r f e c t // p o w e r}
{f a v o r isn't f e i g n e d; it's f r e e l y f l o w i n g}
Mordecai sent these words to Esther in immediate response to her initial doubts:
"do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape...and who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" {ch. 4 v.13, 14}
*{p l a c e d in a p o s i t i o n of p e r f e c t // p o w e r} here we have hit a major theme of the story, and a verse that many of us are familiar with // have heard before. Esther is walking into her destiny without even knowing it. her whole life story is a set up for a major dramatic climax in this moment "for such a time as this." she has the weight of not just her people, but potentially herself & her hidden identity on the line to reveal to the king. but that weight is there intentionally as a {precursor to a penultimate play out} for what is to come. i don't know about you, but when i read this line of scripture i was utterly fixated on this line, i read it over & over & felt the living words infiltrating my spirit. {aka the most wonderful feeling ever!} i encourage myself & us all to hone in on it for what it means in the reality of our lives at this very moment. i guarantee there is something you are walking through right now with which you can step up to the plate exclaiming "for such a time as this!"
*{f a v o r isn't f e i g n e d; it's f r e e l y f l o w i n g} how crazy a story is it for a displaced daughter one day to be essentially catapulted into royalty the next? only the Lord could grant that kind of favor! only the Lord could appoint someone with a softened heart towards the Jews, his promised & chosen people, to complete a necessary task against the evil Haman wanted to create!
King Xerxes: "now what is your petition? it will be given you. And what is your request? even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted"
*{g r a n t..f a v o r // f a v o r..g r a n t e d} Esther WAS the only exception as she described earlier in her own words {initially as a reason to fear!} in not addressing the King. we see this above in Xerxes' gracious generosity to give her whatever is asked. how on earth could he respond with such willingness other than the fact that he is utterly enraptured by her to give her full authority over as much as half of the kingdom? i see this situation as a metaphor for the granted favor God had over her life flowing into the favor granted by Xerxes!
in this i also see a set up for o b e d i e n c e
for Esther to
{r i s e up in r e l e n t l e s s // r e q u e s t}
{the p l e a is more p u r p o s e f u l than the p l a n}
"i will go to the king, even though it is against the law. and if i perish, i perish" {ch. 4 v. 16}
Esther believed & followed through that taking a stand for her people was more important than her own life
Esther repeatedly replies this with e x q u i s i t e // e a s e throughout the story:
"if it pleases the king, my petition and my request is this: if the king regards me with favor and if it please the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request..."
*{r i s e up in r e l e n t l e s s // r e q u e s t} Esther did this so flawlessly. i hope & pray with all my heart that we too can exercise this radical nature in interacting with our own Heavenly Father as Esther did in facing a momentous task before King Xerxes. and to think how much more approachable // enveloping // inviting // welcoming our God is in comparison with a seemingly unapproachable // excluding // uninviting // unwelcoming King-figure-archetype?! {not that all Kings are that way!} this should propel us all the more towards the idea: that we could // that we should // that we have access to...as one of my most favorite scriptures says,
"approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" {Hebrews 4:16}
not going in with a {b o i s t r o u s // b o m b a s t i c // b l o w}, but with an {a w e s t r u c k a s s u r e d // a p p r o a c h} that when we humbly come before the King of Kings & Lord of Lords he is MORE than abundantly full of all we need to receive. what if she had gone into the situation demanding // interrupting // challenging the very nature of the King? his response would've undoubtedly been different, likely not in her favor. even with the stakes so high // the issue so pressing, she uses "if" in submission to him, acknowledging firsthand his dominion & Lordship over her. as we have seen, this {p e r s u a s i v e // p o w e r} in her words is a direct correlation to his reply: he receives what she has said in the sincerest // earnest // most genuine of ways because she has every intention of it sounding that way!
*{the p l e a is more p u r p o s e f u l than the p l a n} i absolutely love Esther's repeated plea throughout the book...so much that i have been {p r a c t i c i n g it over my own p r a y e r s}! more specifically, i mean that when Esther asks for the King's blessing, she is in every verbal way laying down her desires, her dreams, her very p e r s o n {and her very p e o p l e!} as more important than WHAT will transpire, in echo of his response, in the end. another way of saying it: how she expresses the weight of the situation will weigh more than the situation itself. whoa.
"father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done" {Luke 22:42}
Jesus himself even obeyed with one of his final pleas in the New Testament with his Father
let us take heart that we, should we choose to believe it // receive it // decree it, DAILY, MINUTE-LY, SECOND-LY carry the same F A V O R & O B E D I E N C E as Queen Esther. like each of us, she was a common daughter of God set up for an uncommon destiny. the specific choices in her heart set up for the definitive actions to come: ultimately saving the very FUTURE of her PEOPLE, setting the KINGDOM up for PROSPERITY, & lifting Mordecai to a high place deserving of honor & exalt for his unwavering loyalty. i believe with all my heart that Esther rose to her position because of her heart. i believe we can do the same in our lives in the here & now. we know"the living word of God is alive & active today. sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul & marrow" {Hebrews 4:12}!!
whatever it is we face, we know the words of her undeniably loyal father Mordecai ring true:
"and who knows but that {Y O U have C O M E} to {R O Y A L P O S I T I O N}
for such a {T I M E as T H I S}"
{Esther 4:14}