Esther Archives – Sonshine's Journal

September 22, 2023September 22, 2023

Impulsiveness vs. God’s Ways

Esther 1-5 One thing we learn from this story is how God can and will use even the impulsiveness of a king to bring about His plan to preserve His people. King Ahasuerus, as we have seen in chapter one, is an impulsive king. He makes snap judgments without thinking of the long-term consequences. He got mad at his queen and removed her. This will not be the first time, for later, he removed his signet ring and gave it to Haman so he could destroy a group of people. In both cases, this king did not investigate the reasons behind his decisions. But…then God! As Isaiah wrote: God’s thoughts are not like men. His ways are higher and superior. [Is 55:8] He looks down on the earth to find those who are righteous and those who are not. He even keeps a scroll of those who fear the Lord and esteem His name. [Mal 3:16] He orchestrates events to protect His people because he who touches them touches the apple of His eye. [Zech 2:8]

What can we learn from this story? Satan may roam about seeking whom he can devour, but God has His people placed in high and low places. He had Mordecai and Esther right where He could bring about salvation for His people. A third lesson is God says, “I love you!” [Jn 3:16/Malachi 1:2] and because He does, He will move heaven and earth to protect them/us. Where has God placed you for such a time as this, and are you looking for His deliverance?

September 23, 2021September 23, 2021

The Hallmark Movie of the Past

Esther 1 to 5 In every Hallmark movie, there is a knight in shining armor who swoops in to rescue a damsel in distress. God is Esther’s knight and He is ours as well. Since time began our arch-enemy, “Haman,” has sought to destroy the line of Christ. He tried it first in the Garden, then through the murder of Abel to the selling of Joseph to the “Hamanites” of Egypt, to the Samaritan’s ruse to destroy the work of the temple as we just learned in Zechariah and Haggai and in 2Chron 36. As Peter said, he roams about seeking whom he can devour. [1Peter 5:8] Now, in the story of Esther, we have Haman the Agagite seeking to destroy the line of the Messiah through an edict he has written and sealed with the signet ring of the king.

Satan hates God’s people, and he will go to any lengths to destroy them. But, God is the providential author, the knight in shining armor, of all that seems impossible. He is the author and finisher of our faith and His plans for our lives. He is the Savior who comes in at just the right time to end Satan’s plans in ways we could not imagine. Stay tuned tomorrow to see how that happens.

There may be a Haman in your life right now, and you don’t see how God will upend his evil plans. Will you fast (and pray) for His deliverance just as Esther proposed?

January 14, 2014

Importunate Prayer

Are you waiting on the scepter to be extended to you to enter God’s throne room much like Esther waited on the king to extend her the golden scepter to offer her admittance? How do you come? Fearful or fearless? “Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law…. If I perish, I perish!” [Esther] Today, as a child of God we do need an appointment, or be fearful of this for we have this promise: Heb 4:16 Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help. God’s door is always open, thus “Pray without ceasing.” [IThess] And although we have never seen the vision of God’s throne as John did, “jasper and carnelian in appearance, and a rainbow looking like it was made of emerald” nor have we seen Jesus transfigured as Peter, James and John did, when we enter our prayer closet it is as if we are entering that sphere where the God of the universe stops and listens; His Son Jesus intercedes and the Holy Spirit interprets.

As we read Luke 11 it is as if the disciples saw and experienced this preciousness of this heavenly scene as he prayed to His Father. It was then that when he had ceased his time alone with His Father, they asked; “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Jesus began by teaching them “when you pray.” When, not if, but a definite time frame. As Jesus taught them a model prayer they learned much about the pattern one should consider. Following that he gave them a parable about the importunate man who came at midnight seeking help from a friend to teach them about the persistence of prayer, a valuable lesson for all of us when we fail to receive answers due to our “laxity, faintheartedness, impatience, and timidity which is fatal..” [E.M. Bounds] In all of this teaching, Jesus is emphasizing that we have a relationship with God by which we can come importunately seeking and expecting answers. The pattern is as follows: First: addressing of a Holy Righteous God who sits upon the throne in heaven; secondly, petitioning for our needs, thirdly seeking restoration to a state of total and complete forgiveness all because we have what “God desires—a humble spirit – a humble and repentant heart He will not reject.”[Ps 51], and lastly petitioning to be guarded from the one who seeks to distract and devour us from our walk of holiness. In all of this there is no fear, but like Esther, we are to have a determination to enter and seek boldly our answers. It is there that we seek the face of the one who is the author and finisher of our faith.

Jesus offers insight to how this works through the parable of the importunate [persistent] friend who seeks help from the source he trusts expecting an answer and not willing to depart until his request is answered. So too with Esther as she demanded the law be reversed regarding her people. We are to be as bold and assertive as both the friend and Esther. “Importunate praying is the earnest, inward movement of the heart towards God…no principle is more definitely enforced by Christ than prevailing prayer must have in it that quality which waits and perseveres, the courage that never surrenders, the patience that never grows tired, the resolution that never wavers.” [E.M. Bounds] That is what Jesus was teaching his disciples.

Beloved, today as you enter the throne room of the Lord God Almighty are you coming asking, seeking and knocking not for answers from an earthly king but the King of Kings? If so, go therefore and pray importunately for He is waiting: Psa 66:19 However, God heard; he listened to my prayer.

October 11, 2013

The Path of God…Prov 23

In the book of Esther we meet two men who were faced with choices which ultimately determined their destinies. The first man, Haman, loved riches and power and was filled with hate for God’s people. Ultimately, Haman’s choices led him to dine with a ruler and found himself hanging from the gallows he had prepared for a man he hated. The second man, Mordecai, made a choice to obey God and prepare his niece Esther for living a life that honored God. As queen, Esther was used instrumentally to preserve the Jewish people from Haman’s hatred and plan of destruction. Mordecai reminded Esther that God had uniquely allowed her to “achieve royal status for such a time as this!” Fast forward to the year 1846 and we meet Lewis Cass, Sec of State under Pres Buchanan, who wrote: “God, in His providence, has given us a Book of His revealed will to be with us at the commencement of our career in this life and at its termination;” We see the truth of that statement in Haman, Mordecai and Esther’s life.

Each person is presented with choices that will determine their destiny both here on earth as well as their eternal place with or without God. Today in our reading [Proverbs 23] we find that King Solomon gives wise counsel for the here and now. Summarizing this chapter we find some principles we can apply to our daily walk with God:

Vs 1-3 Avoid overindulgence in your appetite; you might find yourself swinging from the gallows! On the opposite side of the coin, avoid indulging at the table of the stingy person or you may end up paying the check!
Vs 1,6,20-21,27-28 Be discerning in the company you keep; be wise in choosing friends, acquaintances and mates for life. If you choose wrongly, you bear the cross of shame and troubles; if you choose wisely it leads to peace, wisdom and prosperity
Vs 12, 15-16, 19 Learn something new each day, it will benefit your mind and your disposition towards trials.
VS 17 Envy of sin is a fleeting activity but zeal for the Lord is a passion that will only grow stronger as you meditate upon his Word.
Vs 30-35 Over imbibing brings disastrous consequences; it ensnares and corrupts “Do not be caught by its beautiful color in the glass. Much sin enters the soul through the avenue of the eye,” [Fausset]
Vs 22, 24-26 Honor thy parent for it is the first commandment with a promise. A parent rejoices when a son/daughter demonstrates wisdom in life’s choices.
Vs 4-5 Beware of expending your life to gain riches; they make wings for themselves and fly away. Instead lay up treasures in heaven. God calls a man a fool who “stores up riches for himself, but is not rich toward God.” [Luke 12] and wise who “accumulates for themselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.” [Matt 6]
Vs 9 Don’t waste your time with fools; those who seek not God but whose god is self-righteousness, and self-sufficiency. Shake the dust off your feet from those who deny God. [Luke 9] Instead “Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD.” [Hosea 6:3]

So today, listen and be wise, God will guide you on your way [Prov 23:19/Ps 32:8] God chooses the path, you choose to follow or ignore the path He has chosen.

Photo courtesy: angelverses.org