Tuesday 10 June, 2014

8 That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther everything Haman had owned. Haman had been the enemy of the Jews. Esther had told the king that Mordecai was her cousin. So Mordecai came to see the king. 2 The king took his ring off. It had his royal seal on it. He had taken it back from Haman. Now he gave it to Mordecai. And Esther put Mordecai in charge of everything Haman had owned. 3 Esther made another appeal to the king. She fell at his feet and sobbed. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman, the Agagite. He had decided to kill the Jews. 4 The king reached out his gold rod toward Esther. She got up and stood in front of him. 5 “King Xerxes, I hope you will show me your favor,” she said. “I hope you will think that what I’m asking is the right thing to do. I hope you are pleased with me. If you are, and if it pleases you, let an order be written. Let it take the place of the messages Haman wrote. Haman was the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite. He planned to kill the Jews. He wrote orders to destroy us in all of your territories. 6 I couldn’t stand by and see the horrible trouble that would fall on my people! I couldn’t stand to see my family destroyed!” 7 King Xerxes gave a reply to Queen Esther and the Jew Mordecai. He said, “Haman attacked the Jews. So I’ve given Esther everything he owned. My men have stuck a pole through his dead body. And they’ve set it up where everyone can see it. 8 “Now write another order in my name. Do it for the benefit of the Jews. Do what seems best to you. Stamp the order with my royal seal. Nothing that is written in my name and stamped with my seal can ever be changed.”

I love the way God turns things around. Nothing is over till it’s over. It seemed Haman would win and Mordecai was a goner – But God!!! God intervened – as Queen Esther and Mordecai did what they could do then God did what only He could do and in verse 8 Mordecai and Queen Esther have the King’s ring and permission to change what seemed a certain tragedy for the Jews.

This same God loves me in the midst of situations where I face great difficulty. He invites me to

do what I can do and to be confident that He will do what only He can do – always bringing about His good purposes in my life – just as He did in Queen Esther’s life.

Lord – I repent again of thinking my difficulties are bigger than You. Help me walk forward in confident trust, speaking Your goodness over my circumstances and doing what I can do, expectantly knowing that You are going to act!

Written by Ps. Linda Quinn