Just Like Esther

One of my favourite Biblical accounts is that of the life of Esther.  Probably, most of us who have gone to church for any length of time can tell the story from memory.  

We would tell how Esther was raised by her cousin, Morecai (who was old enough to be her father), then she was sent to the palace of the king along with all the other young unmarried women in the land.  After a year of preparing, she went before the king, he found favor in her, and she was suddenly married and became queen of Persia!  But, as advised by Mordecai, she had to keep her Jewish heritage a secret (For her safety.)

Then, Haman (the king's right-hand man) devised an evil plot due to a deep seeded and generational hatred for the Jews.  That plot?  All the Jews were to be killed.  So it was now up to Esther to save her people.  Once again, as advised by Mordecai, she goes before the king to plead for her people.  But this time she went uninvited and unannounced. Going before the king in this manner was punishable by certain death, unless for some reason the king gave mercy and held out his sceptre to pardon them.  Knowing the great risk, she still goes before the king.  He pardons her and she escapes punishment.  It is then that she reveals she is a Jew, pleads for her people, and saves them from death.

It’s a beautiful story.  We commend her for her actions.  We praise her for her most famous line, "If I perish, I perish."  We think of her as a woman with no fear, only faith and bravery.  And while she was those things and more, I think we often forget one important fact.  

She was human.  She wasn't some super-Christian.  She struggled just like we do.  If you look closely at Esther chapter 4, when Mordecai first sends word that she needs to go to the king, her initial reaction was NOT, "Sure!  I would love to go and risk my life to save my people.  That sounds like fun!"  

No!  Her first reaction was excuses and fear.  She didn't jump at the chance to risk death, to save a people that didn't necessarily ask her to save them.  

 And that's how we are too.  How many of us jump at the chance for God to bring hard times into our life?  We actually pray that it doesn't come.  But yet, God does allow hard times to come.  Sometimes He asks us to go through what appears to be an impossible situation.  A situation that we don't understand and we don't want to go through.  Just like Esther.

But in the end, she knew what needed to be done.  She knew that God had a plan, and that no matter the outcome, He would be with her.  Even though the situation seemed impossible, she knew it was what she needed to do.  And God showed Himself so powerful.  

A second thing we need to remember about Esther is this - she didn't have her whole story written out in the Bible for her to read like we do. She didn't know the outcome of her story.  When she was getting ready to go in to the king uninvited, she didn't know he was going to extend his sceptre to her.  For all she knew, she was going in to die.  She just knew that she was FULLY relying on God and her faith.  

We don't know the end of our story either.  When some trial comes into our life, and we don't know the outcome, the only thing we can do is lean on God and our faith in Him.  Just like Esther.

Sometimes things in this life can hurt so much.  The trials, pain, and grief - often just doesn’t make sense.  I’m sure Esther didn’t understand things either.  But in the end, she went with her faith.  She didn't become resentful, angry or bitter.  She didn't turn her back on her faith or God.  She didn’t wait until everything was made clear before she obeyed. 

But she did know that He knows best, and she stayed true to that. Was it easy? No way.  Was it over in a day? Nope.  Her trial started when she was taken from her home and only seemed to get worse before God brought her through it.  

But did God show Himself true to her?  Yes.  Did He give her strength to get through?  You betcha.

So here is what we can learn from Esther: Life is hard - but God is good.  Trials come into our lives - but God is always there.  Hurt, pain, grief, and confusion all occur - but God takes care of us.  We just need to lean on Him, trust in Him, and allow Him to get us through.  Just like He did for Esther.

P.S. It is interesting to note that in the entire book of Esther, the actual name of God is never mentioned. Not even once.  But His fingerprints are ALL OVER every single thing that happens.  

If you are going through a tough time right now, it may feel like God is not there.  But take heart, He is working “behind the scenes.”  Make it a point every day to look for ways that God is showing you His love.  It may be the sunshine.  It may be an encouraging conversation with a friend.  It may be just the right Bible verse or quote to come across your FB newsfeed at just the right time.  I think you will find that if you simply take the time to look, that you will see God’s fingerprints all over your life.