Well.. ...we finally made it to the second banquet.
And after watching Esther wait through the last few chapters, I was ready for her to SAY IT.
She’s fasted. She’s prayed. She’s risked walking into the king’s presence uninvited. She’s prepared the table and waited through the first banquet without saying what she came to say.
But now it’s time.
So The king asks Esther again what she wants, and this time she tells him. Her life and the lives of her people are in danger. Then comes the big question... Who did this?
And Esther doesn’t give a long speech. She doesn’t tell every little detail or spend twenty minutes making sure the king understands just how awful Haman is. I would have had an intro, at least five points and a closing statement. But not Esther. She keeps it simple
It’s Haman.
And that really spoke to me because I’ve already told y’all that I’m dealing with a Haman of my own right now. I’ve also told you how much I want to explain myself when I feel misunderstood. I want people to know the whole story. I want to correct things that aren’t true and make sure everyone understands what actually happened. But studying Esther has been teaching me something I really need to learn. I don’t have to spend all my energy making sure everybody sees what I see.
Esther didn’t expose Haman in Chapter 3. She didn’t do it in Chapter 4 either. She didn’t even do it at the first banquet. She waited until it was time, and when that time came, she didn’t need to force anything.
She just told the truth.
And then everything Haman had been building started falling apart.
Remember the gallows from Chapter 5? The one Haman had built for Mordecai while Esther was preparing a table? It’s still there. And one of the king’s attendants points it out, and the very thing Haman built for somebody else becomes the place of his own destruction. That brought me right back to what God has been showing me through these chapters. We have to be careful what we build when we’re hurt.
We can build entire conversations in our heads. We can build resentment, arguments, defenses and plans for the day everybody finally realizes we were right.
Or we can build a table.
We can pray. We can wait. We can keep our hearts right. We can speak when it’s time to speak and trust God with everything that happens afterward.
Esther never had to become Haman to deal with Haman. And Neither do we. We don’t have to match somebody else’s behavior. We don’t have to manipulate because they manipulated. We don’t have to get ugly because they got ugly. We don’t have to lose our peace trying to prove something. Or as the kids say now, we don't have to throw hands.
And we don’t have to stay silent forever either.
There is a time to speak.
And When that time comes, we can tell the truth without letting bitterness tell it for us. We don’t need to force exposure, and we don’t need to be afraid of the truth. We just need the wisdom to know when it’s time to speak and a heart clean enough to speak when it is.
God already sees what we're trying so hard to make everybody else see. Tell the truth. Keep your heart clean. Let God handle the rest.
Hidden, not absent.
His fingerprints are everywhere.
Love Pastor Mandy
MandiesDandies / Ark of Hope
Daily reading Esther 7
#HiddenNotAbsent #Esther7 #SpeakTheTruth #KeepYourHeartClean #GuardYourHeart #HisFingerprintsAreEverywhere #BookOfEsther #ArkOfHope
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