Lessons I learnt from the book of Esther

The book of Esther presents a lot of valid life lessons but for the sake of the post, I just mentioned five lessons that resonated with me in this season. The book of Esther has been very encouraging and it has changed my perception on the nature of God in many ways.

1. No occurrence is ever random The king calls Vashti to present herself before him and she refuses which leads to her deposition as queen. The king seeks out to find a new queen which just happens to be Esther who only seemed to exist in that place at that time because after her parents' death her cousin Mordecai adopted her. The unfolding of events seem so random, but they all play a part in the overall function and purpose of God.

2. No weapon fashioned against you shall prosper The contrast that the book of Esther presents on this concept by my standards is amazing. We see chapter 5 closing with Haman hatching a plot to get Mordecai killed and in direct contrast the next chapter opens up with the king not being able to sleep and looking into the records so that he could reward those who were recorded as being loyal which consequently turns out to be Mordecai. So directly adjacent to the timeline when Haman is planning to destroy Mordecai, God is planning on elevating him.

3. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble Haman represents the excesses of pride in the book of Esther. He thinks more highly of himself than he ought to. He makes people bow down to him as though he were some kind of god. In essence, his pride would have him try to take God's place in a way. He even tries to wipe out an entire tribe of people. That is pride in excess in my opinion. All his pride does is lead him to his own demise as he is hung on the gallow he intended on using on Mordecai. Mordecai in turn is rewarded because not only does he not bow down to Haman, but he also saves the kings life from an assassination attempt. Also, despite being the Queen's cousin, Mordecai does not seek out his own elevation in the kingdom through his relational status but he continues to humbly serve at the gates of the King's palace.

4. God rewards in His own time, He doesn't follow our timeline Mordecai saves the king from the assassination attempt in chapter 2:21-23. His act is just recorded in the kingdom records and he continues on serving at the gates of the palace. It is after his continued faithfulness and humility at the gates does the king go through the records and finally reward him for his acts. Time had elapsed since the time Mordecai saved the King's life. This shows that rewards for faithfulness in most cases rarely come instantaneously. God works out the timeline not only to serve your good, but the good of those around you. When they do come, they show God's glory in the most magnificent way because the elevation is unprecedented.

5. Discipline is very important When Esther goes into the palace, she is told not to reveal that she was a Jew. She was disciplined enough to keep this a secret until the appropriate time regardless of the fact that she had favor with the king. Esther is presented as a disciplined lady who is willing to put her own life at risk in order to be used by God to save her people. Esther is faithful enough to perceive that the benefit that her position has is not only for her but for her people as well. She is disciplined enough to yield to the grand scheme of God to save the Israelites in spite of the threat of possible death is the king did not pardon her for coming to him unsummoned. After her discipline to yield to God, the king finds favor in her and stretches his scepter when she approaches him. Favor follows discipline.