What are we building While we wait.

Yesterday Esther said, “If I must die, I must die.”

    But Today she actually has to walk through the door. Saying and doing are two very different things right. I can talk big, talk myself up, co Vince myself I have to and say I will...but then I have to Jump. ( I get it...I've been there...I know exactly what she's feeling here. )

     And After three days of fasting, Esther goes before the king knowing it could cost her life. But He sees her, holds out the gold scepter and asks what she wants. And at this point I'm reading it thinking, Girl, SAY IT! This is why you're here! This is it...The moment you've been waiting for..You didn't die and now you can get rid of Haman...

            But she doesn't.

Instead She invites the king and Haman to a banquet. Then at the banquet, he asks her again what she wants and again she says nothing but she invites them back tomorrow.

     That messed with me a bit. But Esther had already surrendered the outcome in Chapter 4, and now she isn't rushing just because the door opened. She has something important to say, but she doesn't let emotion decide when she says it.

    That's something we all need to learn. Just because we finally have the opportunity to say something doesn't mean we need to unload everything we've been holding in. Wisdom knows there is a right time to speak and a right time to wait.

                        Then there's Haman.

   He leaves the banquet bragging about his wealth, his family, his position and the fact that the queen invited him to dinner. He has plenty to be thankful for. But then he sees Mordecai. And suddenly none of it matters.

   That's what offense can do to us. We can be sitting at a table full of blessings and still spend all our attention watching the one person at the gate who got under our skin. And after talking about dealing with my own Haman lately, I had to check my heart too. Because it's easy to recognize Haman in someone else. We also have to make sure we aren't allowing hurt, anger or the need to be right to build a little Haman in us.

                   Then I noticed the contrast.

Esther is preparing a table.

Haman is building a gallows.

               Both are preparing for tomorrow.

    So what are we building while we wait? Are we praying, guarding our hearts and trusting God, Or are we replaying conversations, planning our defense and quietly feeding resentment? Because while Haman is building his gallows, God is already working on something he knows nothing about.

     We already know the king isn't going to be able to sleep. Haman thinks he has tomorrow figured out. Esther doesn't know what tomorrow holds. Mordecai has no clue his forgotten faithfulness is about to be remembered.

                      But God already knows.

And there are His fingerprints again.

    We don't have to force tomorrow. We don't have to control the outcome or make everyone understand our side. We can prepare the table. We can keep our hearts right. We can go to bed amd sleepin peace, because while we're sleeping, God is still God. We have to be careful what we're building while we wait.

Hidden, not absent.

His fingerprints are everywhere.

We just pray for eyes to see them and trust him.

Love Pastor Mandy

Daily reading Esther 5

Matt Reynolds 

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