God will grant us FAVOR when we STAND UP for Him!
May 22 Bible Reading: Esther Chapters 4-6
God will grant us FAVOR when we STAND UP for Him!
Now it happened on the third day
that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's
palace, across from the king's house, while the king sat on his royal throne in
the royal house, facing the entrance of the house. So it was, when the king saw
Queen Esther standing in the court that she found favor in his sight, and the
king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther
went near and touched the top of the scepter. And the king said to her,
"What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given
to you--up to half the kingdom!" (Esther 5:1-3)
Sometimes it takes a crisis
to remind us that we never serve God alone. Esther enjoyed comfort and ease in
the palace, but now she had a difficult task to perform. She made a crucial
decision and stood out as a model of taking courage and acting wisely in order
to withstand evil. We should note here that she does not act on her own but
decided to fast with her maid, Mordecai and all the Jews from Sushan for three
days and nights so that God would intervene on their behalf. Even though Esther had a strategy, she
trusted God to work out the details!
On the third day, when the fast was completed, Esther put on
her royal robes, summoned her courage, and appeared before Ahasuerus uninvited
(5:1). Recognizing that only a very important matter would cause his new queen to risk her life, the king
held out to Esther his golden scepter offering entrance and favor (5:2).
This indicated that she was free to come before him and that she had found
favor in his sight (2:9). The king also promised to grant her request, up to
half his kingdom (a figure of speech meaning that he would give her anything at
all within reason). Thus, we see the providence
of God that was demonstrated by the king’s response to Esther, which was a
direct answer to her fasting for the last three days!
Esther’s bold gesture of seeking an unscheduled audience with
the king (Esth. 5:1–5) showed a great deal of courage. Access to the Persian
ruler was limited to those summoned by him. Anyone who violated this policy
could be punished by death. Yet Esther’s faith, encouraged by her cousin
Mordecai, gave her the resolve to speak up on behalf of her people.
Here is an uplifting thought from the Inspirational Study Bible:
“Courage is the power
to do well when the air is turbulent and the going gets tough. It is having the
character to do well when things are tempting, when things are painful. It is
easy to be a mother when a baby is cooing and gurgling over breakfast; it takes
courage to be a mother when the child suffers from a terrible and incurable
handicap. Courage is the power to do well in the face of a threat—to your life,
to your security, to your future, to the things you hold dear.” (From “Basic Moral Characteristics”
in Practical Christianity by Lewis Smedes)
Like Esther, let us also be courageous at the onslaught of evil into our lives knowing that God will grant us favor when we stand up for Him!
