Made for More: Part Two預覽

Esther

God is never mentioned in the book of Esther, but his presence is active and his purpose through Esther’s life is apparent. Esther came to be queen after the King of Persia had gotten rid of his wife for not coming out when he ordered her to display her beauty at his banquet. So the King held a contest to find the most beautiful woman in the land and was captured by Esther. Esther had hidden the fact that she was a Jew, and the King had no idea.

From the first mention of Esther, her life had been filled with MORE AMBITION and INITIATIVE. When Esther first went to see if the king would have her, she didn’t tell him that she was a Jew. But she believed in herself and thought the opportunity would come even when it would appear impossible to most. 

In a short amount of time, Esther found great favor with the king. Her uncle Mordecai worked for the king, and when he overheard two guards plotting his murder, he told Esther to inform the king. Mordecai also gained great favor for saving the king’s life. The king then promoted Haman, the Persian official, to the highest position underneath the king. Haman was quite full of himself and demanded that all bow at his feet, but Mordecai refused. When Haman discovered Mordecai was a Jew, he convinced the king to create a decree for all Jews to be killed. So the two rolled a dice and determined that all Jews of Persia would be executed in eleven months, on the thirteenth of Adar. 

Scripture says that when Mordecai learned of this decree, he went out in the streets, tore his clothes, and wept “loudly and bitterly” (Esther 4:1). Esther came into a need for MORE INTERCESSION. Esther told Mordecai she and her female attendants would fast for three days and three nights as she prepared to approach the king. Esther requested to hold a banquet with the king and Haman and proceeded to invite them to another dinner the following night. 

On this night, Esther told the king she was a Jew and that Haman had plotted to create a decree to kill her people. Smitten by Esther, the king was willing to do anything she asked. Through a series of more events and the remainder of the book, Esther’s initiative eventually led to the saving of Jewish people. 

Esther was ready to put her people first and prepared herself for MORE SACRIFICES so that her people could be saved. “If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). The cost of being used in the most mighty and powerful ways often requires us to come to places of great offering and loss. Usually, we don’t choose these losses or what we sacrifice, but God knows what we are capable of handling and just how much potential we have when we don’t always choose our interests first. 

Esther shows us that God wants more opportunities for all of us, but they are not always just handed to us. It is in preparing for MORE OPPORTUNITIES that Jesus quickens us to take initiative, intercede, and ultimately die to ourselves so that God can work in us as he desires. 

Esther is often painted in a delicate and favored light, and no doubt, she was favored. But she had to take some bold steps forward for the great opportunity God had in store for her. Esther was prepared for the moment and didn’t let it slip by. 

The work we are doing may be preparing us for a specific opportunity. And when that opportunity arises, we must be ready to act.