Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
Esther was unsure if Xerxes would extend favor to her, but God is already extending His favor to you even before you approach Him. He wants to turn your grief into joy.
Let your grief be a time you press into God’s presence. Like Esther taking her grief and her petition into the king’s presence, take your grief into the presence of King of kings.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
None of us are strangers to grief—we’ve all experienced this dark place.
The dictionary defines grief three ways: (1) keen mental suffering or distress over affliction or loss; (2) sharp sorrow; (3) painful regret. We sometimes define it with terms like at the end of my rope, down for the count, nothing but gray skies all around, or unable to see any light at the end of the long tunnel.
One psychologist recently asked, “Can you die of a broken heart?” And she meant it literally. She wondered if a person’s grief—what we sometimes call an emotionally broken heart—could lead to a physically broken heart. The answer was, quite simply, yes. Those who cannot get relief from their grief are more susceptible to heart disease, autoimmune disorders, and breakdowns in their immune system.
We need some good news to pull us out of our grief. The good news is that God specializes not just in removing grief, but in turning grief into joy. In the hymn O Holy Night, one of the lines says, “In all our trials, born to be our Friend. He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger.” Isaiah calls Jesus, “A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).
Grief tends to wash over us in waves. When the waves hit, they often cause us to forget what God has done for us in the past. The apostle Paul said we should learn lessons from the history of the Israelites in the Old Testament. Let me zoom in on one particular story. Notice the waves of grief that follow one after another.
Israel was complacent about their sin (Amos 6:1, 4-7) and eventually was taken into captivity in Assyria. Soon after that, the Assyrians then defeated by the Babylonians. Meanwhile, instead of learning the lessons from Israel’s captivity, Judah had more evil kings than God-fearing kings and they were eventually defeated by the Babylonians (Psalm 137:1-4). Babylon was then defeated by the Medes and Persians.
Somewhere in this time of exile, a young Israelite girl named Hadassah becomes orphaned. She is adopted by Mordecai, who changes her name into the Persian name Esther. Queen Vashti is divorced and banished by King Xerxes, and as a result Esther is chosen from all of the eligible bachelorettes in Persia to become queen in Vashti’s place.
Mordecai is an attendant at the gate to the castle, giving him a good vantage point to stay in touch with Esther. It also puts him in a place to overhear an assassination plot against King Xerxes, which Mordecai relayed to Esther to tell the king. Sadly, Mordecai’s good deed, which saved King Xerxes’ life, is overlooked. Instead, Mordecai’s faith is attacked by Haman, the prime minister, and all of the Jews in Persia are targeted by Haman for destruction. Once again, Mordecai gets word to Esther to have her appeal to the king. Esther is put in a no-win situation here: to approach the king without an invitation could be fatal, but to do nothing would mean the death of all of the Jews.
How did all of this come to be?
Let me take you back to Deuteronomy 8:3. God allowed His people to be humbled and hungry so that they would learn that He is their only source. In the following verses we are told twice to “beware”: beware of forgetting that God is our Provider, and beware of thinking we are our own provider. If we do either of these, God will discipline us (Deuteronomy 8:5).
God isn’t mentioned at all in the Book of Esther, but He is so obviously at work. God said, “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” (Isaiah 46:10). Before the Israelites went into captivity, God promised that His people would not be annihilated there but would return to Jerusalem (Jeremiah 31:10-17).
Esther did interceded before King Xerxes. Because of this, Haman was hanged, Mordecai was exalted to Haman’s place, and the Jews were saved (Esther 7:1-6; 8:1-2, 15-17; 9:20-22; 10:3).
God turned overwhelming grief into unspeakable joy!
Dick Brogden wrote, “Are you overwhelmed, out of strength, nowhere to go, out of resources, at a most critical time in your family, ministry, job, or life? Great! God allowed it so that all the earth may know that He is God alone. Don’t waste the crisis. It’s a great opportunity for missions, a great opportunity for God’s glory to be known in all the earth.”
Let your grief be a time you press into God’s presence. Like Esther taking her grief and her petition into the king’s presence, take your grief into the presence of King of kings.
Esther was unsure if Xerxes would extend favor to her, but God is already extending His favor to you even before you approach Him. He wants to turn your grief into joy.
God doesn’t want to simply remove your grief, but He wants you to be testimony for Him because of the way He moves on your behalf.
Follow along with all of the messages in our series Grief Into Joy by clicking here.
“Friendship is a path that leads very close to the perfection which consists of the enjoyment and knowledge of God, such that a man who is a friend of man is made into a friend of God, according to what the Savior said in the gospel: ‘Now I will not call you servants, but My friends [John 15:15].’” —Aelred of Rievaulx
In studying the intense volcanic activity on Jupiter’s moon Io, the ICR concludes, “Since 2013, evidence of a youthful solar system has only gotten stronger. Scientists have been forced to acknowledge that Saturn’s rings are indeed young, and belief in deep time continues to pose real problems for conventional scientists.” The prestigious Nature concurs, saying, “Some such proposals make planetary researchers uncomfortable, because it is statistically unlikely that humans would catch any one object engaged in unusual activity—let alone several.”
Parents and teachers trying to keep up with the ever-changing lexicon of today’s youth will really appreciate this list of slang from Axis.
“Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world’s estimation.” —Susan B. Anthony
The story of Esther in the Bible is one of my all-time favorites. “While Esther herself has not been identified, nor has the plot to destroy the Jewish people been confirmed, the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” To that point, here are 10 pieces of archeological evidence related to this amazing story.
Charisse Compton asks, “When was the last time meditating on your body elicited worship?” She goes on to make this case from Psalm 139: “Your body, as much as your soul, is one of God’s glorious works. It bears the unmistakable signature of the divine Artist so that, like creation, your body ‘declare[s] the glory of God’ (Psalm 19:1).”
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
We’ve now learned about all three circles that help us discover our God-implanted gifts:
Passion—what thrills you?
Pain—what kills you?
Proficiency—what fulfills you?
What do you do with these gifts? What’s the whole purpose in learning about them? I think the goal as saints is to help the Body of Christ mature in ways that brings God glory (Ephesians 4:12-16).
Solomon also gives a great word picture of friends using their gifts for each other—“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend” (Proverbs 27:17 NLT).
In an earlier message in this series, I talked about the thousands of enzymes in our human bodies. Each enzyme has just one task, and each task is indispensable to the health of the whole body. It is exactly the same in the Body of Christ—your gift-in-action is indispensable to the health of the whole Body.
How do you squander your grace gift? I think these are five basic ways:
Not discovering it—“I have a gift?”
Devaluing it—“My gift is nothing special.”
Overvaluing it—“My gift is super-important.”
Laziness—“My gift is fine just the way it is.”
Selfishness—“My gift is just for me.”
We need to discover our own gifts, but then we need to work on making the switch from “me” to “we.” I want to excel in using my gift so that I can help you excel in using your gift so that we can help another brother or sister excel in using their gift.
Oswald Chambers said, “The Book of God is insistent on this: we cannot develop a holy life alone, it would be a selfish life, without God in it and wrong. … Beware of isolation; beware of the idea that you have to develop a holy life alone. It is impossible to develop a holy life alone, you will develop into an oddity and a peculiarism, into something utterly unlike what God wants you to be. The only way to develop spiritually is to go into the society of God’s own children, and you will soon find how God alters your set.”
Frequently we need another brother or sister in Christ to help nudge us into discovering and using our gifts. For example, look how…
Mordecai assured Esther (Esther 4:13-14)
Matthias was chosen by those in the upper room (Acts 1:21-26)
The first deacons were unanimously chosen by the Church (Acts 6:3-6)
Barnabas and Saul were chosen by the Holy Spirit and confirmed by other prophets and teachers in the church (Acts 13:1-3)
Paul encouraged his proteges to appoint elders who were recognized by others in the church (Titus 1:5; 1 Timothy 3:1f)
Consider this poem—
For want of a horseshoe nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
Listen to the Holy Spirit. Listen to the confirming words from fellow saints—words like “You are gifted,” “You are so good at…,” and “How did you know how to do that?” Then step out of your comfort zone and soar into your gift zone!
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
If we are wise, we can learn invaluable leadership lessons even from those who fell short in their attempts. For example, consider Lot, the nephew of Abraham.
Lot was found “sitting at the gate” in Sodom. This was a place of leadership, the place where legal and business matters were discussed. That means Lot appeared to be accepted by the townsfolk (see Genesis 19:1-14).
But that also means Lot had compromised his values.
Lot didn’t walk right into this leadership role. The Bible tells us how Lot first lived in the vicinity of Sodom and Gomorrah, but then steadily moved closer and closer to the city, until eventually he compromised his values enough to be accepted into a civic leadership position.
Lot obviously did not live or speak according to God’s righteous standards because when he attempted to appeal to a depraved mob of Sodomites, they ridiculed him, reminding him that he was not one of them. And then when Lot tried to warn his future sons-in-law (men who were also Sodomites) about God’s impending judgment on the city, they only laughed at him.
Jesus warned us, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26).
The Sodomites spoke well of Lot when he was in the city gate, going along with them, not standing up for righteousness.
So too for us: People of the world will appear to be your friend as long as you don’t make them uncomfortable by standing up and speaking up for the truth. As soon as Lot tried to stand for God, the Sodomites showed him their true colors.
On the other hand, look at the examples of Joseph, Mordecai, Esther, Daniel, and Nehemiah to see righteous people who didn’t compromise their commitment to God’s ways in order to achieve a leadership position in earthly governments. Instead, their righteousness was blessed by God, and He gave them favor.
Ironically, Lot compromised God-honoring values to try to earn favor with men, and in the end, lost favor with them. Those other godly leaders resolutely stood for God regardless of what anyone may have said about them and God gave those leaders favor with men.
A mark of an ungodly leader is one who compromises godly values to gain a leadership status in the world’s eyes.
This is part 76 in my series on godly leadership. You can check out all of my posts in this series by clicking here.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.
“Highly esteemed” is how two different angels addressed Daniel (Daniel 9:23, 10:11). This was a title they obviously heard from God Himself. At both instances, Daniel was in a time of intense and sustained prayer and fasting.
While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making request to the Lord my God for His holy hill … Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me…. (Daniel 9:20-21)
At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all. (Daniel 10:2-3)
Prayer was a regular habit for Daniel and prayer was also what Daniel turned to immediately in times of trouble (Daniel 2:18, 6:10).
We see the same thing in the lives of two notable women in the New Testament. Elizabeth is described as an upright woman who observed all of God’s commandments blamelessly. She continuously prayed that she might get pregnant, and then Gabriel came to bring the good news of her upcoming pregnancy. Elizabeth responded by saying, “The Lord has done this for me.… He has shown me His favor” (see Luke 1:5-25).
Mary was also a righteous woman who was steeped in Scripture (as we can see in her song of praise). When Gabriel appeared to her, he called her “highly favored” (see Luke 1:26-55).
A righteous, prayer-filled lifestyle also brings favor and esteem with earthly kings. Daniel and his friends fasted and prayed, which led to King Nebuchadnezzar’s favor directed to them (Daniel 1:11-20, 2:48-49). After three days of prayer and fasting, Queen Esther found favor in the eyes of King Xerxes, which led to the salvation of all the Jewish people (Esther 4:15—5:3). And Nehemiah’s sustained prayer over four months won the favorable reply from King Artaxerxes (see Nehemiah 1:1—2:8).
If you want to hear deep things from God, if you want to be called “highly esteemed” by the Most High, if you want to gain favor with earthly kings, you must be committed to the sustained work of prayer and righteous living. If you would like to dig into this deeper, check out 4 Thoughts To Help Prayer Become A Daily Habit.
Dangerous Prayers give a brief biography of 50 culture-shifting people, and the world-changing prayers they prayed. Check out my full book review by clicking here, and then enjoy just a few of the prayers from this excellent book.
“Listen to my supplication, Master, so that my soul doesn’t stagger under Your instruction, so that I don’t stumble in testifying to Your mercies, by which You tore me away from all my ruinous pathways. Thus You’ll grow sweet to me beyond all that led me wrong, in my willingness to follow it. Thus I’ll love You most mightily, and grasp Your hand with all the strength of my inmost being. Thus You’ll tear me away from every trial, clear to the end.” —Augustine
“Restore me to liberty, and enable me so to live now that I may answer before Thee and before the world. Lord, whatever this day may bring, may Thy name be praised. Amen.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer, while awaiting execution in a Nazi concentration camp
“Give us grace, O God, to dare to do the deed which we well know cries to be done. Let us not hesitate because of ease, or the words of men’s mouths, or our own lives. Mighty causes are calling us—the freeing of women, the training of children, the putting down of hate and murder and poverty—all these and more. But they call with voices that mean work and sacrifice and death. Mercifully grant us, O God, the spirit of Esther, that we may say: ‘I will go unto the king and if I perish, I perish.’” —W.E.B. DuBois
“Because we have need continually to crave many things at Your hands, we humbly beg You, O heavenly Father, to grant us Your Holy Spirit to direct our petitions, that they may proceed from such a fervent mind as may be agreeable to Your holy will.” —John Knox
“O keep us, we beseech Thee, Lord, for without Thy keeping we cannot keep ourselves.” —Charles Spurgeon
“Oh Jesus, You who suffer, grant that today and every day I may be able to see You in the person of Your sick ones and that, by offering them my care, I may serve You. Grant that, even if You are hidden under the unattractive disguise of anger, of crime, or of madness, I may recognize You and say, ‘Jesus, You who suffer, how sweet it is to serve You.’” —Mother Teresa
“I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the State over which you preside, in His holy protection, that He would incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to Government, to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow Citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the Field, and finally, that He would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all, to do Justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind, which were the Characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion, and without an humble invitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation.” —George Washington
“God give me a deep humility, a well-guided zeal, a burning love, and a single eye, and then let men or devils do their worst.” —George Whitefield
Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God (Matthew 22:21).
The Bible has much to say to God-followers about how to interact with earthly governments:
Wise King Solomon told us to “fear the Lord and the king” and not go along with rebels against the government (Proverbs 24:21)
Daniel said several times that “the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone He wishes” (Daniel 4 & 5)
The Apostle Paul declared he was no rebel to either the civil or religious governors: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar” (Acts 25:8)
Later on, Paul reminded the church that government officials are God’s servants, and that we need to give them the respect that is owed to them (see Romans 13:1-7)
Peter counseled Christians: “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors … Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2:13-17)
But a man that exemplifies this balance between fearing God and honoring the king best is Mordecai. Mordecai was a Jew who served the Babylonian king faithfully—
He protected the king from would-be assassins
But disobeyed the king when the law of the land conflicted with God’s law
Then Mordecai helped the king get out of a bad law written by an evil man
A mark of a godly leader is one who knows the difference between fearing God and honoring earthly kings.
How can today’s leaders live out this principle? This is something that should lead us to prayerfully search the Scriptures, and then boldly live out what the Holy Spirit reveals to us.
This is Part 13 in my series on godly leadership. You can check out all of my posts by clicking here.
One of my favorite stories in the Bible shows God’s role in world events, and how the obedience of His people fits into God’s plan. Yet this story doesn’t even mention God by name!
It’s an important reminder that we don’t have to say, “God’s at work here” for God to be at work here. We don’t have to say, “I’m a Christian” to live in a Christlike way.
Have you ever read the story of Queen Esther and her cousin Mordecai? Let me tell you, this is a real page-turner of a story! If you already know the story, skip to the four lessons below. Here’s a quick recap (but you really should read this for yourself)…
King Xerxes is the ruler of the most powerful nation on earth
Queen Vashti (Xerxes’ wife) defies him and is deposed
When the king is looking for a new queen, a young lady named Hadassah catches his eye
Hadassah went by her Persian name of Esther, so the king didn’t know he married a Jewess
Mordecai was Esther’s cousin, her legal guardian, and a palace worker
Mordecai uncovered a plot to assassinate Xerxes, which he shared with Queen Esther, who told the king, who investigated and had the plotters killed
King Xerxes had a prime minister named Haman, who was really full of himself
Mordecai wouldn’t bow down to Haman because Haman thought of himself as a deity
Haman wanted to show Mordecai, and all the other Jews like him, who was boss so he deceived King Xerxes into signing a law that would allow for all the Jews to be killed on a set date
Mordecai again told Queen Esther about the plot, but the queen was scared to go before the king unsummoned (where the penalty for doing so could be death)
Esther finally had the courage to approach Xerxes and invite him and Haman to dinner
At dinner, the king asked Esther why she really invited him to dinner, and Esther said, “Come back to dinner tomorrow night and I’ll tell you then”
King Xerxes couldn’t sleep that night so he asked for the royal chronicles to be read to him
The king discovered that Mordecai had never been rewarded for uncovering the assassination attempt
Xerxes asked Haman what he should do for a man he wanted to honor; Haman thought the king was talking about him, so he gave an elaborate plan of recognition, to which the king replied, “Excellent! Go do all that for Mordecai!”
Haman was so ticked off that he built a 75-foot tall gallows on which to hang Mordecai
At the second dinner, Esther asked for her life to be spared; the king wanted to know who would presume to attack her and the Jews, and she called out Haman
The king stormed from the room while Haman stayed to beg for his life
As the king returned, Haman was pawing at the queen in desperation, so the king’s bodyguards grabbed him
The king found out about the gallows built for Mordecai and gave orders for Haman to be hanged on those very same gallows
Mordecai became prime minister and wrote another law to help save the Jews from annihilation
4 BIG Lessons From Esther for Christians living in a pagan culture today
All of History is His Story. God’s timing to bring all of the key players on the scene at just the right moment is obvious. Even giving the king insomnia at just the right time was a part of God’s plan!
We know the law is good if one uses it properly. (1 Timothy 1:8)
Whether laws are labeled spiritual or civil, the IF in that verse is very important. Law is intended to restrain unbecoming or immoral activities. Laws are aimed at lawbreakers. But in order for any law to carry weight, it has to be backed up by something more solid than a man’s opinion of what is “right” or “wrong.”
According to Scripture, a law must…
…be supported by sound doctrine(1 Timothy 1:10). What defines “sound doctrine” is the word of God, not man-made opinion. Jesus said about the Pharisees, “They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men” (Matthew 15:9). The New Living Translation renders this verse: “Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as the commands of God.”
…conform to the gospel(1 Timothy 1:11). Literally this means filtered through Scripture. Any law that does not have its foundation set on a biblical principle is, by definition, an immoral, man-made law.
So what is the Christian’s role in the legislative process? I see four responsibilities for Christians:
1. Pray for our elected officials that they would have a God-fearing, biblically-sound perspective in their legislative activities (see 1 Timothy 2:1-2).
2. Stay informed on the law-making activities on both the local, state, and national levels (see Acts 17:11; 1 Chronicles 12:32).
4. Disobey immoral laws. The Bible commands us to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Luke 20:25). We must never give to Caesar what is God’s (see Acts 5:29)!
I love Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter From Birmingham Jail where he addresses Christian pastors about the rightness of peacefully disobeying immoral laws. If you haven’t read this masterpiece, please take time to do so. In this letter, Dr. King wrote:
Over the last few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. So I have tried to make it clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or even more, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends.
Christian, you have a responsibility. Pray, be informed, respectfully speak out against immoral laws, and then peacefully disobey when it is necessary.
Craig T. Owens 