Salam précieux vases,
A quick backdrop on Esther’s story, in case you are unfamiliar with it (also possibly one of the greatest Bible Stories of all time):
Esther, formerly named Hadassa, was a Jew whose parents had passed away. She was being raised by Mordecai, her father’s nephew. Esther was both lovely and beautiful. Now, it came to pass that in those days, King Ahasuerus, let’s call him king A, had just thrown his wife out of the palace. King A, ruler of over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, owner of much, much money, made a feast of all good things for all his officials and servants. For eighty days, king A displayed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty. Just imagine it! Un-ending days into un-ending nights of reveling and ravishing beauty, drinking royal wine in magnificent golden vessels and sitting in couches made from gold and silver. A glazed blur of laughter and tales of wars won with spirits so high from the wine and good food.
Queen Vashti also had her own feast for the women in the royal palace which belonged to king A.
After several incredible nights of partying and reveling, king A’s heart became merry with wine. He asked that His Queen be brought to him, wearing her royal crown, in order to showcase her beauty to the people and the officials. She was beautiful to behold.
She refused. This made king A furious! He spoke to his wise men. Those closest to him. They advised him to issue a royal decree that could not be altered, that Vashti shall no longer be Queen. They felt her disobedience to the king would have ripple effects on all other women of his empire. It would give other wives a green card to treat their husbands in the same manner.
The king accepted the advice from his advisors and kicked Queen Vashti to the curb.
Fast forward…
He needs a new queen! One whose beauty and grace is matchless. Again, King A receives advice from his inner circle and asks that all the beautiful, virgin women be brought to the palace. “Let beauty preparations be given to them”, He said. 12 months of preparations for one night with the king, upon which he would pick who would become his next. This young woman that pleased the king would replace former queen Vashti.
This is how Esther enters the story. After 12 months of beauty preparations, Esther went and spent one night with the king. The king loved Esther more than all the other women that went in to be with him. She obtained favor in the sight of the king. So he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen, instead of Vashti. One night that defined her destiny and that of her people.
Fast forward again and the plot thickens. Esther hears that the king has agreed to kill all the Jews in the land upon the request of another of his advisors. Esther is a Jew, in hiding. Not even the king knows who she is. When she finds out about this terrible plot against her people, she is faced with a few facts. Firstly, anyone that appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die, unless the king holds out his gold scepter. Secondly, the king had not called for Esther in more than a month.
This was the situation! Go before the King to plead for her people, and risk dying or die by the hand of the king’s signed decree. Honestly, all her options involved death. Either honorably, trying to save her people, or as a result of the king’s signed decree.
“If I perish, I perish”
So she dedicates 3 days of prayer and fasting before she can talk to the king about this decree. She asks Mordecai, the Jews, and her maids to do the same.
Three days later, Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace. When he saw her standing, he held out the gold scepter, to her, she approached, touched its tip, and asked the king to have dinner with her, she had prepared for him a banquet.
To keep this short, Esther tells the king that her people are to be killed. The king reverses his decree. The Jew’s live, those that wanted the Jews dead, killed on the same day the Jews were meant to be killed. Esther saves her people.
At this point, I believe we have enough of a backdrop to get into the three lessons I learned from the book and life of Esther.
1. Who’s in your inner court?
Queen Vashti’s fate was largely due to who spoke into king A’s ears. His advisors. These men are described as wise, understanding the times, experts in matters of law and justice, and closest to the king. Her being deposed went far beyond her actions. Was king A angry? Definitely. But what if his advisors advised him to sleep and let the anger pass (which it did, in the morning). What if his advisors told him “let your Queen enjoy her party, speak with her in the morning”. Vashti’s fate may have been very different.
The next morning, once the fog anger (and probably wine) was lifted, king A remembered Vashti and what he had decreed about her. Again, the king’s personal attendants gave him advice, which he followed and which eventually brought us, Esther. Esther’s fate became very different.
Who you listen to matters. Take a moment to make a list of the top 5 people that are in your inner circle. Do you need to make some changes? Your inner circle has the power to make you or break you. Here are a few types of friends that I hold onto; the encourager and the one who always tells me the truth. Who are yours?
2. If you want to be prepared for where God is taking you, submit to the process.
For twelve months, Esther went through preparations for her one night with the King, a night that would change her life. She submitted to this process. She didn’t think that just because she made it into the palace, she had it all. Even while in the palace, she submitted to the process of preparation.
Sometimes, we need twelve months of getting rid of ‘stinking thinking’ in order to flow in an abundance mindset.
Imagine if Esther got into the palace without understanding how the palace operates, what abundance looks like, what order and protocol look like! Consider this saying: “You can take the boy out of the village, but you can’t take the village out of the boy. The importance of process, of learning, of internal transformation, can not be stressed enough! The boy is capable of change if his mindset is changed. God places us in seasons where he is building us up for the next. Preparing us for what he has prepared for us. Renewing our minds. It may be hard and long, but it is completely necessary.
3. Your reaction to a circumstance can change the whole situation!
Put yourself in Esther’s shoes for a minute. Imagine you have just been told that all your people will be killed. What emotions are you feeling?
Fear , Anxiety, Uncertainty : All valid and justifiable emotions. Thankfully, we are not ruled by our emotions, we are meant to rule over our emotions. It’s not feelings that should dictate our actions all the time. We should dictate our feelings. Once Esther heard the news, despite what she may have felt. She was resolute to act for her people, even if she lost her life in the process. She stepped up and stepped above her feelings. A person I admire gave a very good example of this. Every morning, you don’t feel like going to work. But you do anyway. Once you get up, drink coffee, shower…that feeling catches up with you. You have acted your way into feeling excited (or maybe energized) for the day! If you don’t feel it, act your way into feeling. We can train ourselves to not be ruled by how we feel.
If I perish, I perish.
Prayer changes everything. When we fast, we are actively giving God the space to speak and forcing our body to listen. It was after Esther fasted that she went before the king and asked him to a banquet. It is after the banquet that she told him everything. Prayer and fasting allows God to download his strategy and blueprint for action into our hearts. We will know what to do, once we give space from the myriad of thoughts, anxieties, feelings to lay low so that God’s voice can be stronger and louder than the noise.
Written by Merilyn T. Phiri
