Grit, Grace, Girlfriends-Esther Study part 2
Today I listened to Esther in The Message and The New Living Translation! What great translations for story form! A few things pop out for Points to Ponder in a couple verses:
“When it was Esther’s turn to go to the king (Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had adopted her as his daughter), she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch in charge of the harem, had recommended. Esther, just as she was, won the admiration of everyone who saw her.”Esther 2:15 MSG
“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
POINTS TO PONDER:
1. Esther did not lean to her own understanding when it came to deciding what the king wanted. Instead she looked to the one who served the King and who served her; Hegai. What a beautiful pic of The Holy Spirit. Telling us what the king desires.
2. Esther, just as she was, won the admiration of all who saw her. JUST AS SHE WAS!Let this be us. To listen for guidance from the Holy Spirit to tell us what our King desires from us. And let us no veer from our identity and who we truly are. Regardless of favor, or rejection. We must to trust what the King and the Holy Spirit sees in us-Just as we are.We are enough!
3 "If we keep quiet at times like this"....What does that look like for us "Esther's" in days like today? Is it being a voice for the unborn, injustices, speaking up on unpopular issues? (Example- I canceled Netflix)We are not afforded the luxury of being bystanders in this life. We are meant to do hard things, scary things, unpopular things, and at times...dangerous things. Esther is quoted in verse 16 saying something extremely courageous, "If I die, I must die." What is so dear to your heart that you would be bold enough to utter such a brave statement?
Today, dear sister, be bold for what burdens your heart. Be brave for what God asked you to defend or protect. Be confident in your convictions. You won’t regret being a voice but you might regret being silent.
Take away lessons from
Chapter four - Saving one's neck at the cost of others is for cowards- We see now why God needed a Jewish person in the palace. Esther's beauty was not for her, Shocker, I know, but to save her nation. However, she seems oblivious to what's going on with her people. Had she become so detached from her heritage that she knew nothing of her nation's death sentence? It took her adoptive father's public display of grief to get her attention. He had to remind her that she was not exempt from the massacre that was coming. I also find it unusual that the Jewish people's reaction is grief, sorrow, and anguish and not outrage or not retaliation. Why? I believe it's because they are exiles, survivors: the warrior in them has not yet surfaced, but it will, once queen Esther finds her voice. One other lesson learned in Chapter 4-Grief is necessary to bring change. We may not be able to comfort those who are consumed in sorrow, but we might just be able to change or prevent future pain because of today's grief.
Chapter five - We can't wait for an invitation from man to obey God's voice. On the third day of the fast, Esther robed up! And when she was welcomed, she began her calculated escape plan for her people. She fueled the bus to back over Haman. Knowing what's coming against you and understanding how to confront your enemy isn't done chaotically of frantically. Still, it's done with calculation and wisdom. It's done with prayer and fasting. It's done with rallying the troop!
Chapter six - Justice and payback will come for our trouble. We serve a king who does not sleep, reviews our records, and rewards those who diligently seek him. While the enemy (Haman) is plotting a curse against Mortdecai, the king is organizing a blessing for Morty's act of loyalty to the king. While the enemy is trying to advance and promote himself, the king uses the enemy's egotistical plan for self-promotion. He lavishes Morty with Haman's dream of acknowledgment. The king took the Haman's heart desire and gave it to Mortdecai.