Hunkered Down Devotion

Esther 5:1-4 (Voice)
When the third day arrived, Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace across from the king’s rooms. The king was sitting on his throne facing the palace entrance. 2 He was pleased when he noticed Queen Esther waiting in the court. He extended his gold scepter with his hand, inviting her in. Esther walked toward him, and when she was close enough, she reached out and touched the king’s scepter.
King Ahasuerus: 3 What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? I’ll give you anything—even half of my kingdom—all you need to do is ask.
Queen Esther: 4 If it would please you, my king, I’d like for you and Haman to come today to a banquet I have made in your honor.

If you don’t know Esther’s full story, this short passage probably doesn’t make a lot of sense.  I’m not going to recap it for you here – you are going to have to read it yourself 😊.  But for our purposes today, it is enough to know that Esther had a lot of things going against her, a lot of obstacles between her and making a difference, doing anything of meaning in this world.

To put it bluntly, she simply didn’t have a lot of agency over any area of her life.  She was a Jew in a occupied land; she was a woman in an incredibly patriarchal society; she was a ‘queen’ – but not an equal to the king, instead regarded more as a possession (if she approached or spoke to the king without his prior permission – extending his scepter towards her – she could be immediately put to death.

All of this to say, that it would have been much easier, and certainly much safer for Esther to sit back and not get involved in the plight of her people.  It would have been much easier, much safer for her to simply keep her mouth shut, go about her duties as the queen and leave it at that.  

But no matter the situation, no matter how little power or influence we might have, we still have choices to make.  And the choices we make either draw us closer to God or not.  The choices we make either signify obedience to God’s call on our lives or not.  The choices we make put God and others before ourselves – as Christ has modeled for us – or not.

Esther, with her limited resources, limited influence, and lots to lose still choose to follow God’s call on her life, risk everything, and use all that she had to serve God and help those around her. Esther is a reminder to all of us that no matter the circumstances, no matter the situation, we always have a choice.  And when we make the right choice, the choice to serve and follow God, the impact and power of those choices is multiplied and magnified by the God we choose to serve.
 
Sharing God’s Love, 
Chip  

Prayer:  Lord, help us recognize that no matter where we are, what we are doing we have choices.  Help us to choose to follow and serve you. Amen.