Esther 4:1-3
The Jews were scattered among the Persians. They had become comfortable in a very pagan world. God has told His people that His protection would be on them if they worshiped Him only. He still loved them but would not shield them. Now their enemies were about to annihilate them. They now realized they had turned away from God and needed to repent and return to their God. Sometimes our situation is because of what we are allowing to come before God, the things we are allowing into our lives that keep us from spending time with Him. Mordecai dressed in sackcloth and ashes was a way to humble himself, presenting himself as poor in spirit and dead without God. We are dead without Christ. Christ came to give us life and life to the full. Not just eternal life but a satisfying life here on earth. We won’t find satisfaction in the things that the world offers. God will give us good gifts along the way but they in and of themselves do not bring genuine satisfaction.
God will allow things into our lives that will cause us to turn back to Him where we can find life again. Joel 2:13 tells us how patient He is with us. Acts 3:19-20 is an invitation to repent so that we can be restored. What a privilege.
Esther 4:4-8
Mordecai refused the clothes Esther sent to him. This situation was not a simple need. This was a matter of life and death and he had his sackcloth on for a reason. A change of clothes would not help the matter. There are times that we can’t change our circumstances by what we are able to do. Sometimes it takes calling on our God. Esther was trying to help Mordecai with something that would not fix the problem.
Esther was surrounded by those that were to protect her and please her but that was not helping the situation. We often try to protect and help others because we think that is what we should do but that does not always help them. I think of our kids when we always try to make them “comfortable”, or doing for people at times when they need to do for themselves or not being straight forward with someone because we may hurt their feelings. We are not always doing them justice. We also want to offer quick solutions rather than taking the time to listen and understand the whole situation.
Life is full of difficulty and by dealing with them instead of avoiding them, we can grow spiritually. Helping others avoid their difficulties does not always help them. It is sometimes because of facing the difficulties that we can gain strength, to keep from being crushed. Esther was about to be told the seriousness of the problem. She was about to find out how much endurance she had. When we discover what we have, we are free to fulfill our destiny. We realize we are not as fragile as we thought and we can become the warriors that God planned for us to be.
Esther 4:9-11
Esther has to examine herself to see what her true attributes are. Now that she knows what is happening and what the consequence will be or could be, she has a decision to make. By becoming Queen, she has a changed life. With that changed life has come different priorities. Now she has a dilemma.
I can see this from both sides. If you were once serving God and walked away, your priorities have changed and when faced with a crisis, you may choose to return to your old priorities and decide to put God back at the top of your list. On the other hand if you never lived for Christ and you decide you want God to work in your life, you will need to adopt new priorities or you will return to your old ways which will hinder your desire to improve your life. We have to be intentional about the decisions we make.
Since Esther has been Queen she has her physical needs met. She has been detached from seeing the real needs of people. If we continue to ignore real needs because we don’t see anything that we can do to help, we begin to replace real needs with needs that aren’t really important. We begin to see inconveniences as a crisis. We need to get our eyes off ourselves and recognize the real crisis.
Esther has not been summoned by the king in 30 days so she is not feeling like he has much desire to see her. This could be weighing on Esther’s confidence. She did not feel like she had much of a chance of changing the situation. We can feel like this at times but sometimes we or our loved ones can be worse off by us not doing something.
Ester 4:12-14
Esther was in a position to do something that God knew she would be the right one for the job. You too are in a position to fulfill a destiny that God has in store. We think Esther was in a more prominent position than us but if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, what do the following verses say about us? Matt 11:11, Matt 13:11-12, Luke 17:20-21, 1 Corinthians 4:20, 1Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6, Revelation 5:9-10 We are a child of the King. No matter where we are or how we are treated, our status is secure. you have been placed in a position to do a work “for such a time as this”. We have “a time to be born and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2) and we have time set for us and exact places that we should live. (Acts 17:26) In Christ, “we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works everything in conformity with the purpose of His will”(Ephesians 1:11)
Our lives are significant. God will accomplish His agenda whether or not we walk in obedience to our calling but we would miss our fulfillment of our life purpose. It is when we feel like the job is too big for us and then God does something miraculous and we become someone we never knew was possible. that is when you know there is no doubt that God exists and you would rather walk in obedience to a purposeful life than to think that life was to be easy and meaningless. We can sit on the other side of glory and realize we have fulfilled our destiny.
It may be the toughest moment in your life that will reveal your destiny. You may have to choose between a worldly decision or a Godly decision. That decision will determine the fulfillment of your destiny. The war is being waged and there is a cloud of witnesses cheering you on.
Esther 4:15-17
Esther once hid her identity and now prepares to make a difference. Esther has come to her “defining moment”. A moment that reveals that we are not who we have seemed to be. Our decision will determine if we fulfill God’s purpose.