I've always really liked the book of Esther. I know everyone gives Esther grief because it's the book that doesn't specifically mention God in it, but I appreciate our guest worship leader, and my sister in law, Jean Bell's reminder that God knew that we would need some examples to follow, and I agree with her that this is a big part of the reason of why it was included in the cannon of the Bible.
Esther is a perfect example of what it means to be submitted to God and to be willing to be used of him. Esther may have ended up being the Queen of beauty and courage, but she started out as an orphan, a person with lower status than anyone. She was raised by her cousin, Mordecai, who told her after being forced to be queen not to tell anyone who she is or that she is a Jew.
Abandoned. Stolen from home. Forced into a life she didn't ask for. Told to be quiet about her heritage and family. Not a great way to start out life.
Esther arrives on the scene confused and afraid. The king's Eunuch's who were assigned to attend her were likely the only people she talked to on a regular basis.
One day, she gets a report that the King's number two guy, Haman, just signed into law an edict making Jews public enemy number one, and ordered that they be terminated. Cousin Mordecai appeals to Esther to plead with the king on the Jew's behalf.
Further complicating the matter is that Esther has no idea how to behave around the king. Can she even approach him? People who showed up in the king's presence un-invited were thrown on large sharp poles and impaled. I could see why she would be a little nervous to approach him, let alone talk to him about what's happening and ask him to intervene.
But...
Esther 4:13-14
When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?
Mordecai was right. He caught a glimpse of the "upper story." Do you remember the concept of the "Upper" and "Lower" story? The Lower Story is our life. It's what is going on around us. It's what we see and interact with. The "Upper" Story is God's story. It's what he's doing behind the scenes that we can't see. It's where his thoughts are higher than our thoughts and where his ways are higher than our ways, and where it's where he's working in his mysterious ways.
I get in my mind this picture of God playing chess with himself. We of course are the pawns. The moves of the player are unknown to us, but we can be sure that God is playing, and that no matter how close it may seem to "checkmate", God always has a move or two up his sleeve.
In this case, it looked as though Haman was going to commit racial genocide and wipe the Jews out with one fell swoop. But in the upper story, God was preparing his next move. He was about to move his Queen.
It didn't happen right away, but eventually Esther gathered her courage and revealed to the king what Haman was planning to do. The king was so furious with Haman that he had him executed and impaled on a pole. Mordecai was elevated to Haman's old position, and the Jews were saved.
All because an abandoned, lonely, and frightened girl submitted to God and allowed him to move through her.
Maybe you are like Esther and you don't have a large amount of confidence. Perhaps you feel you're too young to be used of God; too inexperienced. Or perhaps you feel you're too old; too set in your ways. But if we learn anything from Esther's story, it's that God can use anyone to accomplish his purposes.
1 Corinthians 1:26-27
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
And he can do it again if you'll submit to him through Jesus Christ and allow him to move through you.
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