“And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:13-14
Living in the world comes with a lot of decisions that everyone must make, which determines the kind of life we all get to live and the results that follows our lives. It is either you are part of the problems of this world or you stand to become part of those that will bring the change the world is waiting to see. In every generation, what separates the game changers from the onlookers is the decision that they made! We are all products of our decisions. History is filled with stories of men and women that lived selfless lives because they made those decisions. Until we rise from our comfort zones and do what they did, we will never be able to effect any change in our generation. The story of Esther is a special one that addressed several challenges and fears altogether at once. In a male-dominated world, Queen Esther demonstrated the possibility of saving the world while almost everything is against you achieving that pursuit. Her lifestyle of sacrifice and selflessness earned her a book in the Bible! It is worthy of note that in the whole book of Esther, there was no mention of a Priest or Prophet of God all through the story yet, a lady rose up to become God’s answer to her world in her days. She represented God in many shades without noise! She became the light in the darkness, the saviour of the Jews! This depict the impartiality of God at all times. God is no respecter of man, whoever is ready to take up responsibility and stand for God becomes God’s special battle axe for that generation! Are you ready for the journey through the risky pathway that brought about the victory of Esther? Get ready for the Fire Experience!
Esther’s background is filled with sorrowful and tearful stories. She lost her parents early in life and was raised by Mordecai, her only relative made mention in the bible. Being raised by a foster Father, Esther had the testimony of complete obedience to all the instructions of Mordecai. She devoted her life to God very early and understood what it meant to be a Jew. The setting of the book of Esther was in the land of Captivity, in the times of King Ahasuerus who reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia. In a foreign land, it becomes more difficult to keep the heritage of being a Jew, the nation specially chosen by God for His Glory but ended in captivity for a long time due to their consistent disobedience to God’s command. It mustn’t have been easy to associate with being a Jew in such terrain, yet the later endeavours of Mordecai and how he refused to bow to Haman showed the depth of God consciousness he lived with and must have definitely passed on to Esther.
In every generation, what separates the game changers from the onlookers is the decision that they made!
Mordecai, who was a gate keeper in Shushan, the citadel of the Kingdom of King Ahasuerus heard about the announcement about the vacancy in the office of the Queen to this very influential ruler, he enlisted Esther immediately! This is what we can call the beginning of a phase in the life of Esther which would not only test her faith and allegiance to the God of Israel, but that will also see her bring judgement to the enemies of the Jews in the land and become the preserver of the Messianic lineage. Once again, we saw the hand of God ready to bring forth into limelight His readily trained children to fulfill His special assignment prepared for them to the Glory of His Name alone. Are you part of His divine envoys on earth? Are you yielded and broken enough to be used by God in this generation?
There is no limit to where God is ready to take us if we will indeed follow His command and allow Him to lead us through the journey of life.
The journey of Esther from grass to grace was a glory to behold indeed. This expressly pass a direct message to our generation of believers that, there is no limit to where God is ready to take us and place us if we will indeed follow His command and allow Him to lead us through the journey of life. In every generation just like ours, there seems to always be a rush and an invisible race in the world of the rising younger ones to make it to the top of the spheres of the world’s influence. Each person would try everything possible to make a name for himself by harnessing all factors of influence possibly available which often leads to seeking special powers through various means! In the midst of all these, children of God are always caught in the middle, having to choose whether to follow the pattern of the world and dance to the tune of the hour by bowing to anything aside God in exchange for success or to truly stay with God and wait till He will be ready to take them through the journey of life on His terms. Many prefer to follow the former path, it is quite easier and less stressful although the end is predictable; a life outside God leading to eternal damnation.
When a man bows to God in reverence, he must stand tall before men!
On the other hand, the few that decides to follow the way of the Lord faithfully always arrive at their God-ordained destination and last longer in success and fame! Why? They have sustained an energy level and a state of brokenness that can surely keep them in God’s will without falling all through their lifetime. Though it is always a call into the lifestyle of Sacrifice yet, these special Generals of God are always willing to pay the price to represent God in their age and gain the highest prize of God! The hall of fame of men of faith in the book of Hebrews is filled with the testimony of many of them. An important highlight of the chapter read thus: “who by faith [that is, with an enduring trust in God and His promises] subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions, extinguished the power of [raging] fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became mighty and unbeatable in battle putting enemy forces to flight, and all of these, though gained [divine] approval through their faith, did not receive [the fulfillment of] what was promised because God had us in mind and had something better for us, so that they [these men and women of authentic faith] would not be made perfect [that is, completed in Him] apart from us”. Hebrews 11:33-34;39-40. To whom do you belong? The pathway of sons is laid out here before you, choose life and not death!
When men become obliged to carry out your biding without asking for their help continuously without growing weary, then favour is involved!
Esther obeyed the instructions of Mordecai even while under the care of Hegai the custodian of the women. She obtained favour before the officer as expected of a true dweller of the secret place of the Most High. When a man bows to God in reverence, he must stand tall before men! Everything around Esther worked for her good and with God’s hand upon her life, she became the queen of the Great King Ahasuerus. The favour of God was so strong on Esther so much that the bible testified about it in a clear manner: “… and Esther found favour in the sight of all who saw her” Esther 2:15b. This means whoever beheld the face of Esther was bound to help her at all cost! We must understand very early that God has prepared systems of advancement for His children here on earth one of which is favour! When men become obliged to carry out your biding without asking for their help continuously without growing weary, then favour is involved! All we need to do is to walk in the ways of God and obey His commands, He never disappoints! He never fails!
In fighting the battle against darkness to win, Knowledge is essential!
In the midst of all these, a battle between light and darkness was building up gradually. Specially represented in human form through Mordecai the Jew and Haman the Agagite. The first signal that depict that Haman understood perfectly the battle going on was the kind of action he started to take after getting to know that Mordecai was a Jew. How did the lack of respect of Mordecai to Haman at the Gate of the Palace become the lead story leading to the plot to destroy all the Jews in the entire Kingdom? The truth still remain as always that our world is more spiritual than physical! The agents of darkness knows this for sure without doubt and are always ready to take charge. The question is, how many believers of our day truly understands the full implication of this world being more spiritual than physical? How many of us are ready to fight this battle against darkness using the right weapon? All through the book of Esther, no major war was fought with swords and spears! In fighting the battle against darkness to win, Knowledge is essential!
No man is indispensable to the Kingdom of God, God can never run out of options, this is why we must always reverence God and count it as a rare privilege to represent the interest of God on earth.
Haman’s wisdom in handling his ploy to destroy all Jews in the Kingdom cannot be less than excellent! He knew what to do! Without much stress he got the full backing of the King to sign a law that will see to it that all Jews were killed by their enemies all through the Kingdom. Immediately Mordecai heard about the new law, he sent an urgent message to Esther inside the palace, the details of his message is our anchor passage stated above. It was time for her to take action and manifest truly as an ambassador of the Kingdom of God on earth. The words of Mordecai that were sent to Esther spilled out the expectation of God upon every true son of the Kingdom! God cannot be stranded! God will always win, it is now left to every child of God to align to the challenge of the day and become God’s answer, or else, the privilege to be of service to the Kingdom of God will be passed to someone else! No man is indispensable to the Kingdom of God, God can never run out of options, this is why we must always reverence God and count it as a rare privilege to represent the interest of God on earth.
God cannot be stranded! God will always win! It is now left to every child of God to align to the challenge of the day and become God’s answer, or else, the privilege to be of service to the Kingdom of God will be passed to someone else!
Esther accepted the challenge and choose the sacrificial pathway! Her popular declaration of faith which confirmed her allegiance to God even at the expense of her life remains a lesson to us all. Verse 16 of the Fourth chapter of Esther recorded it this way: “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. my maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”. Here is the climax of the lesson in this episode. The willingness of Esther to path ways with all her riches and glory as the queen if need be for the fulfillment of a greater calling; the salvation of the Jews stands her out from everyone else! She became the answer of God in her generation through her decision. The system and wisdom through which Esther obtained victory for the Jews is a story for another series. The central message God is passing to us in this episode is that, after we have arrived in that place of destiny God promised to take us to, are we ready to defend the Name of Jesus in that sphere of influence? We must always carry the consciousness that whatever height we reach in life through the help of God, it is for a purpose! It is never for show and glorification of the flesh! Forgetting this needed mindset is the doom of every ambassador of Christ here on earth. God is counting on you!
We must always carry the consciousness that whatever height we reach in life through the help of God, it is for a purpose! Forgetting this needed mindset is the doom of every ambassador of Christ here on earth.
In conclusion, we have seen how much God is interested in bringing His own agents into limelight to man up every mountain of influence of man. We have also discussed how important it is for us to understand the reason for which God will see to it that we get to the highest positions on earth if need be and this is so His Name can be glorified throughout the earth. The lifestyle of sacrifice is our access point to becoming the answer of God in our days. The life of Esther was examined, her example of obedience to God and man was explained; we saw how she willingly decided to go through the pathway of selflessness and sacrifice all for God! Believers of this age must understand that all the training and investments of God upon our lives are all for one purpose: that we may become the express representation of Him here and do His biddings to the advancement of His Kingdom on earth. Can God find you faithful to preserve His ordinances on earth and carefully hand it over to the next generation? The world is growing tired of reading stories that only happened in the bible and many centuries before now, they are awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God in this generation, the ones that will make known the excellency of the Glory and Power of God through all they do! Will you rise up to the challenge of your day like Esther? God is ever ready to start the journey with you! It all starts with your response to walk with Him for the rest of your days! Choose God! Choose Life! Thanks for visiting the Fire Place today, were you blessed? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. God bless you!