Living 2 B Free

Esther 2:1-4
Seems that King Xerxes may have been sorry for what he ordered to have done to Queen Vashti at the advice of his counsel. Now he is about to take their advice again. In times that cause us to feel angry, we would do ourselves justice to wait until the anger subsides. We will often discover other emotions beneath the anger. How often do we say things we are later sorry for or how do you think we look as we act out on our anger instead of maintaining control?
None of us will attain perfection this side of eternity. Even our Bible heroes are not perfect. Beth says, “God is busy conforming us into the likeness of Christ” god gives us biblical figures to teach but He is the only constant. “All scripture is God-breathed but different parts have different primary purposes. Only together are they complete.
Esther 2:5-9
When God is involved, things don’t always unfold as you would expect. Esther would have never been chosen to be a candidate for queen because of her being of the a Jew. We see with Esther gaining favor with Hegai, that beauty is more than skin deep. There was something about Esther that caught the attention of Hegai that did not compare to the other girls. We would save ourselves a lot of grief by abiding by Proverbs 16:21,23 and Proverbs 29:11. Jesus Christ is our ultimate example of having people skills as Luke 2:52 describes. It is about having godly wisdom and having a relationship with people. We will always have room to grow in this area. Manners have been lost in a culture that is becoming more and more focused on “me”.
Esther 2:10-14
The Jews had begun to blend in with the Persians because many had forgotten God in their daily disciplines. Are we blending in with our culture by being too passive. We are to be a peculiar people so that we can make a difference. God had not forgotten them and he has not forgotten us. As we look back at different times of our lives that we seemed to have lost our way or put God lower than our main priority, we can see how He never forgot us. His hand was still on us and still is no matter where we are in our relationship with Him.
In Esther 2:11 we see that Mordecai was protective of Esther. She was out of sight but never out of mind. He had times of hope where he thought she would be chosen and promoted to a position of influence and he also had times that were less hopeful and just wanted her to survive in one piece. Does this happen with us as parents when we watch our kids go through life. We can rest in the fact that God is protective of us and our children and we are never out of His sight or mind.
These girls would go to the king one night at a time and then be sent to another part of the harem, possibly to never be called on again. How would they have felt? Giving ourselves to someone in unhealthy and ungodly conditions brings feelings of rejection and causes us to feel misused more than ever. Our God desires to clothes us in beauty and righteousness(Isaiah 61:10) without blemish holy and blameless (Ephesians 5:25-27).
Esther 2:15-18
Esther’s turn had come. She proceeds by accepting wise counsel and takes only what Hegai suggested. She was not hasty. She put thought behind her actions. She wins favor not by threatening the leadership but by compliance, seems to be her way, pleasing those who are caring for her, her foster father, her Persian caretaker and now the king. How often do we try to buck the system to get our way when we would be further ahead to comply to the leadership and positions of authority in our work place, school, society, etc.
Esther won favor with king Xerxes. Could Proverbs 21:1 be why Esther was favored? Beth says of king Xerxes, “He could have had a night, but he chose a wife.” He was not just looking for any woman. How many women and girls today are giving themselves away to men that just want a night thinking they will win them over only to be hurt and rejected when another women becomes willing? Why is it so hard to find your beauty in the God that created you and save yourself for a man that wants a wife?
Esther 2:19-23
Mordecai shows where is loyalty is and Esther continues to be obedient and loyal. Favor can be shown to us through “our simple willingness to follow instructions.” “Only a person strong in character and steadfast in spirit can follow someone else’s instruction for long.” If long-term persistence to being obedient and loyal can win favor of an earthly supervisor, how much more is our all seeing, unlimited God able to show us favor. If we can’t bring ourselves to follow earthly rules, how obedient can we be to God’s rules. Makes me think if we can be faithful in small things, then we can be trusted with much. Our choosing “the excellence of Christ over the minimalism of man will distinguish us from countless peers.”

Just to add my mix to what Beth Moore teaches in her study of Esther.
Week 1 Esther 1:1-22
We all have troubles. Jesus say it in John 16:33 and Job in Job 14:1. Sometimes we have troubles because of our own actions, sometimes from the actions of others and sometimes there is no apparent reason. Like Beth says, “something is always wrong…whether in a sky high mountain of small annoyances or an earth-splitting canyon of crisis.” I say, “but there is also always something that is right.”
Beth talks about the story of Esther being a story within god’s story. God’s story is still being written and it is such an overwhelming concept that he cares about each and every one of us that we are part of the story. He will always do his part to bring about the happy ending no matter how much grief we go through. When we allow god to write our story we will experience a more than happy ending. We don’t have to wait for troubles to pass or to wait until heaven to begin to live. We can begin to live now no matter what we are going through. don’t let troubles keep you from all that God has for you.
More verses on trouble:
Psalm 46:1, Psalm 107:13, Proverbs 11:29, Proverbs 24:10, Matthew 6:34, Romans 8:35

King Xerxes flaunted his wealth. He should have been meditating on Psalm 49:6-20. When you consider that God is the creator of everything good and holds the rights to all splendor, majesty, strength and glory, we can be more as a servant in God’s kingdom than we will ever be as any kind of a ruler over an earthly kingdom whether it be in our home, our work or position in society.
When we mix people and personalities, we can have problems. When we add alcohol or any mind altering substance we can have big problems. Xerxes let his boundaries down to be accepted by the people. A weakness we can all fall prey to. We are to be on guard and have boundaries/rules for our protection. Trouble comes when we are insecure and allow our boundaries to crumble. Queen Vashti was secure and did not compromise her boundaries. We can be secure if we place our confidence in Christ and allow Him to give us our value. He will heal our insecurities. Xerxes had no limit but when someone else held to their limit, he got mad. We shouldn’t allow someone else’s unrighteous anger or any other behavior cause us to let down our boundaries.
Why should we allow others to have power over our mood? Xerxes became furious and burned with anger. Who likes to be angry? I see a lack of personal control in Xerxes. With the right conduct, we can be happy in ourselves and in Christ. It is our reactions more than our actions that reveal our true selves. Beth touches on the fact that our moods are exaggerated when under the influence of mood altering substances. That is a good reason to be sober. It can save us from making a fool out of ourselves with actions that are not pleasant. Being sober will help us refrain from doing and saying something you would not do if you were in your right mind.
King Xerxes’ failure to keep the party under control and keep lines of communication open with his wife and ultimately turning to ungodly advice has set him up for a grand embarrassment. When seeking counsel, we need to do some thinking and praying of our own. What seems to be wise counsel may prove to make the problem worse. Don’t look to counsel that tells you what you want to hear. The truth may hurt but it is what will bring the best results. Take time to pray and time to let emotions settle before reacting. Our feeling can take us to places we don’t want to go. Proverbs 31:4-5 would be wise to anyone because we see people do things they would not normally do if they were not under the influence pointing to the thought that they are forgetting what the law decrees.
The advice of others is not always good advice to follow. It may be altogether bad or there is a chance it is good advice but maybe not for us. We should also be careful not to think our advice may be right for another. We want to be careful not to lead someone down a wrong path. We can also be on the lookout for someone headed down the wrong path. No one was brave enough to interrupt Xerxes decision to follow Memucan’s advice.
respect is earned by showing respect or by loving. How it is earned depends on the relationship. Respect given because of power brings resentment. Those in authority over us receive more respect when they get it through love than through power. Consider the power of God and He only wants us to love Him if we choose to love him. He knows it is only sincere when it is our choice rather than by force. Also consider how it breaks his heart when we choose to turn our backs.
God is sometimes more present in our lives when we least see him. We can have moments in our lives that seem unconnected and come to discover they were all stepping stones used by God to make us someone we would have otherwise never become.