Esther 3 & 4
Chapter 3
This chapter tells us that this guy Haman got himself promoted by the king to a position of high importance and authority. His pride in this achievement caused him to make himself the enemy of the Jews. With his new found authority, he arranged for the destruction of all the Jews in King Xerxes' whole realm.
Chapter 4
This is when Mordecai finds out about this plot, and asks Hadassah to inform the king and ask for a solution. Now, anyone who approached the king without having been summoned was putting their life in their hands.
He tells her, Who knows whether you have come to this kingdom just for such a time as this? (V. 14).
So she asks for fasting (and prayer), showing her dependence on God for safety, and says, If I perish, I perish (V. 16).
These people are doing their best, trying to live godly lives in the midst of an evil, pagan nation.
Today's World is also a pagan nation, worshipping everything except God. But, like Mordecai and Hadassah, we also can seek God in all that we do, especially if we are called on to get out of our comfort zones.
It's always uncomfortable to reach outside the parameters of our own little worlds to seek God's will to do His works and find His people who don't know Him yet.
O Father, help me to be able to depend on You as much as Queen Esther did when she took a lethal chance to approach this foreign king; You gave her the courage to confidently do this thing that was outside her box of propriety.
Help me also to to be faithful to You and Your ways when I am in the midst of all the chaos that swirls around me in this fallen World.
It is You, my Lord and my God, who is in total control of everything You made. You will allow this World to "careen out of control" only so far, then You will simply flick Your finger to bring it right back to You, as a yo-yo on a string.
Until then, Father, strengthen me to follow in Your footsteps, not turning to the left or the right, not running ahead or lagging behind, not wandering off or pulling away. Keep my hand in Yours, and lead me in that hemmed-in path all the way into Your glory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
