Esther 5:1-14.  Well this is it, after 33 days without being called in by the king Esther is going to approach him on her own.  If he doesn’t like it she will be executed.  And in case you have forgotten, the last queen was banished for not coming and dancing for the king at a party.

Esther put on her best clothes and went to the throne room.  When the king saw here he accepted her approach and had her come in.  You might think, “Whew! How fortunate.”  But remember God is behind all of this, even though he is not mentioned he is hinted at.  The “for such a time as this” comment and the prayer and fasting, show that Mordecai and Esther at least have some concept of some god.  The cool thing is that even if they were not fully in tune with Yahweh, He was fully in tune with their existence.

As Esther enters the king asks here what she wants and before she has a chance to answer he offers her up to half of the kingdom.  Clearly Xerxes was an impulsive guy, who was easily influenced.  But as we have seen he had very little disregard for the lives of others.  So Esther takes half the kingdom and runs. Not!  She immediately tells Xerxes that she is a Jew and asks for the lives of her people.  Not!  She asks Xerxes if he and Haman will come to a party in their honor the next day.  What?  No, please, please, please, save my people?

And what’s up with inviting Haman too?  And look at Haman’s response.  He gets all proud and puffed up, he has an order in place to destroy the Jew, the long time enemy of his people.  He has been given extreme power in the kingdom, and now even the queen has recognized him.  He  goes home and is all bragging to his family but there is this one dark spot in his life, Mordecai.  Mordecai still sits at the gate and refuses to honor him.  Certainly Mordecai should be begging and pleading for himself and his people, doesn’t he know how powerful Haman is?  So his friends and family have a plan.  Get rid of Mordecai now.  Build a 75 foot high tower and have the king execute Mordecai on it, then he can have fun at the banquet.  He liked that advise.

I think that Mordecai had more that a small interest in God because his actions really show a trust in God.  Maybe 150 years in a foreign land had taken it’s toll on the Jewish people. There is an old saying, “those who forget history are destined to repeat it.”  I think we all have short memories.  And without a physical presence it is easy to forget God.  But Mordecai and Esther seem to have some memory.  God on the other hand remembers everything perfectly, or more correctly he knows (everything; past, present and future, all the time, all at the same time).  Our story today has been a rollercoaster ride.  The threat to Ester’s life, then she was accepted into the throne room.  She is offered half the kingdom, but then only asks the king and Haman to a banquet.  Then we see powerful Haman plotting the immediate death of Mordecai.  But by now in the story we must realize, God is there.  It will be interesting to see how the story works out.  For us we must remember that life will have ups and downs but God is always there.  Job certainly had an up and down life (check out Job 1-2).  But God was working behind the scenes for the best possible outcome.  We should be confident that God will do that in Esther and in our lives too.  Remember, though, life will have troubles.  In the Old Testament many of God’s servants suffered (check out Hebrews 11) and check out Jesus words in John 15:20 to his followers.  So as life takes you on a rollercoaster ride remember God loves you.  Trust him and step out in faith.  Do what he wants you to do, knowing your eternity is in his hands.

God help me remember.  Remember that you loved me enough to save me from my sins.  Loved me enough to give me your Spirit as a guide.  Help me remember that you have my best interest at heart.  You will take my life where it needs to be for the best possible outcome for me and others for now and eternity.  Help me remember.  Thank you for loving me.