HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 812
Esther
“ H O W D I D I E V E R get into this situation? Why? Now what?” You
have probably asked these questions before, perhaps many times. You
may be asking them now as you survey your present situation. How do
you decide what to do next? How will you get yourself out of this one?
What you will be
Esther could certainly have asked these quesreading about
tions. Esther was a Jewish orphan, likely a teenager, who had become queen of Persia through
1:1-22
Queen Vashti is deposed
an incredible series of events.
But then a high government official tricked the
2:1-23
Esther becomes queen
king into signing an edict ordering all the Jews of
the kingdom to be killed in one massive ethnic
3:1-15
purging. The only person in the world who could
Haman’s plot to kill the Jews
influence the king to save the Jewish people was
4:1-17
young Esther. But even the queen could not walk
Mordecai persuades Esther
to help
into the presence of the king without an invitation. To do so was to invite death. For Esther it
5:1-14
Esther goes before the king
must have been a “how and why” time. To do
nothing meant the death of all her people, pos6:1-14
Mordecai is honored
sibly even herself. To go to the king could cause
her own execution.
7:1-10
Haman is executed
The story of Esther is in many ways the story of
all of us. Suddenly we find ourselves in the midst
8:1-17
The king’s decree saves the
of circumstances beyond our control. And then,
Jews
like Esther, we come face-to-face with a series
9:1–10:3
of choices. Many of these choices involve moral
The Jews triumph; the
issues: What is the right thing to do? It might
Festival of Purim is
mean the loss of our comfort, our popularity, or
celebrated
even our own life. We may hesitate, like Esther
did, but to retreat behind the safety and comfort of the walls we have built
around ourselves is actually the most dangerous thing we can do, because it
means we have chosen against God and threatened our very souls.
What are you dealing with that is beyond your control? How did you get there?
Realize that these are not the key questions. The key question is, Now what?
What can I do to turn this difficult situation into something that serves God and
others? Perhaps God has brought you into this situation “for just such a time as
this,” so that you can turn your adversity, problems, weakness, sorrow, or grief
into a special opportunity to do something wonderful for God and others.
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