Just Like Esther

I've been studying much these last few months on the life of Esther in the Bible.  I am doing this not only personally, but also for our ladies' Bible study which I lead at church.  Having grown up in church, I have heard this story my entire life.  I actually have no recollection of ever first hearing it.  I just have "always" known it.  But I decided to go a little deeper and try to get as much as I can from her life as possible.  And let me tell you - after studying her for more than 6 months I have gained so much for my personal life.  And I am only in chapter 5!

Most of us who have gone to church for any length of time can probably tell the story ourselves.  We can tell how Esther was raised by her cousin (who was old enough to be her father), then 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!  She had to keep her Jewish heritage a secret.  Then, Haman (the king's right-hand man) devised an evil plot due to a deep seeded hatred for the Jews.  And now, all the Jews were to be killed in just a couple months.  So it is up to Esther to save her people.  She goes before the king, unannounced to plead for her people.  Going before the king uninvited was punishable by certain death, unless for some reason the king held out his scepter to pardon them.  So she does this, the king holds out his scepter, and she escapes death.  Then she reveals that she is a Jew, and pleads for her people, and saves them from death.

Its a beautiful story.  But I was thinking about it and studying it the other day, and a thought struck me.  We commend her so much 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 these things and more, I think we put her up so high on a pedestal that we forget one important thing.  She was human.  She wasn't some super-Christian.  She struggled just like us.  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 fear and death, to save a people that didn't necessarily ask her to save them.  She was afraid.  She made excuses.

And that's how we are too.  How many of us actually ask God to bring hard times into our life.  We don't beg God to bring trials, hurt, and grief into our life.  No, we actually pray that it doesn't come.  But yet, God does allow hard times to come into our lives.  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 it.  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, suicidal even, she knew it was what she needed to do.  And God showed Himself so powerful.  The king did find favor in her, he did not have her killed, and through it all, her people we saved!

Another thing we need to remember about Esther is this (and this really hit me this last time I read through the book) - Esther 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 scepter to her.  She really was fully relying on God and her faith.  To me, that makes her even more human and just like us.  We don't know the end of our story either.  When some trial comes in our life, and we don't know the outcome, we have nothing else to do but lean on God and our faith.  Just life Esther.

This has been so much in my thoughts lately.  It seems like everywhere I look, there are people - friends, family members - going through some hard times.  And I mean hard.  I see their pain, their grief, and I feel it with them.  And I find myself wondering how its all going to work out.  How they are going to get through it.  I know that sometimes things in this life can hurt so much.  The trials, the pain, the grief - all of it doesn't make sense.  And it may never make sense this side of heaven.  That's when God reminds me of Esther.

She didn't understand things either.  Why was she taken from her happy home one day, never to return.  Why was she chosen out of all the other women to be queen.  Why did she have to keep her Jewish heritage a secret?  Why was she so lonely in the palace?  Why was she going to have to risk her life for her people?  Why did all this happen?  Why? How would it end?  I'm sure all those thoughts went through her mind and heart.  But in the end, she went with her faith.  She didn't become resentful or angry or bitter.  She didn't turn her back on her faith or God.  She knew that He knows best, and she stayed true to that.  And God brought her through it all.  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 worsen at first until 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 I guess what I am trying to saw is this.  Life is hard.  But God is good.  Trials come into our lives.  But God is always there.  Hurt, pain, grief, confusion all occur in our life.  But God takes care of us.  We just have to lean on Him, trust in Him, and allow Him to get us through.  My heart is very heavy tonight for several people who are going through some very hard times.  Things are happening to friends, family members, and even personally that I plain just don't understand.  But I am encouraged to know this.  That God is good.  He is always there.  And He Will take care of us.  Just like He did for Esther.

Until next time...