In Esther 4, we find the beginning of the problem. Imagine if you were Esther and you just found out that the man you were married to made a command to kill all the Jews, which would include yourself. What would you do? Keep your mouth shut and hope that he doesn't find out that you're Jewish or would you try to do something in order to change his mind. Esther had a choice to make. Just like Esther, we have a choice to make when we are faced with difficulties. Will we choose to keep our mouths shut or will we choose to say something and bravely face the problem?
Have you ever known something about someone that could hurt them or someone else around them (for example- drug addiction, anorexia, suicidal thoughts, etc...)? What are you going to do about it? I know as Christians the easy thing to say to ourselves is, "I'll pray for them, God will show them their error." Sometimes praying for them is not enough, God wants us to do something about it. It may be to talk to them. I know it's not easy to do, but maybe through you God can show them their error. Sometimes the case is more severe than just talking to the person and you will need to get someone else involved. If you really care for that person and don't want to see them get hurt, you'll do whatever it takes to help them, even if it's not the way you want to or had planned.
Friends play a key role in our lives. They can influence us in a good way, but they can also influence us in a bad way. Sometimes you'll find yourself in an uncomfortable position where your friend(s) want you to join them in something that you know you shouldn't do. This is where peer
pressure comes into play. What are you going to do? The easy thing to do would be to join them, because you wouldn't want them to think that you're not cool, right? What if you chose God's way, and said no? What would happen then? There are two obvious outcomes.... either they can see their error and follow you OR they'll get mad at you and continue in what they're doing, you could possibly even lose their friendship. This is where we need to decide who is more important to us... our friends or God? No matter how they respond just stand strong and know that you're doing what God wants you to do. Here are two verse that I find comforting in times like this... Deuteronomy 31:6 - "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." We can't let fear interfere with our choices. Proverbs 18:21 - "A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."
Lastly in Esther 7, we read about the solution of her problem. I could only imagine the amount of courage and strength this woman had. She literally risked her life for her people and herself. I like to
imagine the thoughts that must have been going on in her head during the time she accused Haman. If I were her, I would have been thinking, "Oh great, I'm going to die. Surely the king will believe his right-hand man over me." Like I said before, she is such a wonderful example of courage. In wrapping up this story, she shows us that no matter what the difficulty, no matter what the possible outcomes may be, we need to choose to do what's right. We need to remember that God has everything under control and knows what's best for us. I know personally when I had a difficulty to face and chose to do the right thing, God used it as a refining time in my life. I believe this is the case in many trials and difficulties that God allows us to face. Even though we may not fully understand why God allows us to go through something, God does, and through it He is trying to refine us and make us more like Him. Esther had full trust in God and that He would take care of the situation. Can that be said of us?
In conclusion, I want to mention an interesting fact I learned about Queen Esther. Esther was originally named Hadassah, which came from the Hebrew language. In attempts to conceal that she
was Jewish, her uncle changed it to Esther, which was derived from the Persian language. When I looked up what the meaning of the name Esther was, I found that it meant star. What an appropriate name for her, because she certainly was the "star" of the show. :o)
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