Year 5, Day 65: Esther 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Abide

• Abide: This is a moment, day, or even a season when we focus on God.  It is a time when we are rejuvenated by God.  It is the time for us to gather up what we will need for the coming growth after a season of pruning.  However, abiding is not the end.  We abide so that we can grow, bear fruit, prune, and abide again.

This is a great chapter in the Bible because it shows us something we do not expect.  In this chapter we see incredible patience.  We see a woman who is willing to wait upon the Lord rather than take her advantage.

What do I mean by this?  Esther goes before the king.  She receives a pardon for going before the king unannounced.  She asks for a feast with the king and his servant Haman.  Her request is granted!  She seems to have everything going for her!

So let’s think about this.  How many of us on this kind of a roll would be able to stop all the momentum and say, “You know, why don’t y’all come back tomorrow?”  Esther has a private audience with her husband the king!  She has the enemy of her people in her grasp!  Yet she pauses and waits for a second day.  She stops and abides with her God.  She doesn’t force things, she has the patience to wait for God to show her that the timing is right.

She could have sought her own advantage.  She could have sought her own will and gotten vengeance upon Haman.  But she is patient.  She abides in God until God tells her to grow and bear fruit.  What an incredible perspective of the faith!

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