Despair Part IV

Esther

Esther was a young Jewish girl who had been made queen (married to King Ahasuerus) but the king and his rulers were not aware that she was Jewish.

The king had a chief nobleman named Haman who hated the Jews, and through trickery, convinced the king to allow him to order the massacre of all the Jews.

Letters were sent by couriers to each of the royal provinces telling the officials to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jewish people—young and old, women and children—and plunder their possessions on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month.   –Ester 3:13 (HCSB)

Esther’s uncle (Mordecai) sent word to Esther and told her she needed to speak to the king on behalf of her people. The problem here was that if you went before the king without his request, he might have you killed.

Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to tell Mordecai, “All the royal officials and the people of the royal provinces know that one law applies to every man or woman who approaches the king in the inner courtyard and who has not been summoned—the death penalty. Only if the king extends the gold scepter will that person live. I have not been summoned to appear before the king for the last 30 days.” Esther’s response was reported to Mordecai. -Ester 4:10-12 (HCSB)

Esther was afraid and rightly so. However, her uncle charged her that if her people were destroyed, she herself could not hide in the palace unscathed.

Mordecai told the messenger to reply to Esther, “Don’t think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews because you are in the king’s palace. If you keep silent at this time, liberation and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s house will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.” –Ester 4:13-14 (HCSB)

Esther agreed but asked that all the people fast so that the king would receive her.

Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: “Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, day or night. I and my female servants will also fast in the same way. After that, I will go to the king even if it is against the law. If I perish, I perish.” So Mordecai went and did everything Esther had ordered him. –Ester 4:15-17 (HCSB)

Can you imagine how scary this must have been for her? Talk about despair. The fate of this whole race of people was, to some degree, in her hands. But she stepped out in faith and went before the king.

God allows His people to experience hardships, and it is easy for us to question why. I believe it is to build our faith. When we are challenged beyond what we can bare, we turn to God for deliverance. The greater the risk or burden, the greater our view of God’s intervention and then we have greater faith to tackle greater obstacles. Our faith grows and others faith grows as they see God work in and through us, and God is glorified. You might say our trials and tribulations are win-win situation for everyone.

If we really love and trust God, we will have a clearer view of things. We may not see the reason at the time and it probably won’t be pleasant, but as long as we know He is in control and working all things for the good, we can bare whatever lays before us.

Who wouldn’t want to see God work in their life and grow in Him?

Despair Part III

Daniel

When Daniel was about fourteen years old, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, captured the city of Jerusalem. Daniel was a member of the royal family and probably lived in the palace. No doubt, he had a life of privilege. This all changed and he found himself a slave on his way to Babylon to serve an un-godly king. Daniel had no idea what lay ahead of him.   

The king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to bring some of the Israelites from the royal family and from the nobility— young men without any physical defect, good-looking, suitable for instruction in all wisdom, knowledgeable, perceptive, and capable of serving in the king’s palace—and to teach them the Chaldean language and literature. The king assigned them daily provisions from the royal food and from the wine that he drank. They were to be trained for three years, and at the end of that time they were to serve in the king’s court. Among them, from the descendants of Judah, were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The chief official gave them other names: he gave the name Belteshazzar to Daniel, Shadrach to Hananiah, Meshach to Mishael, and Abednego to Azariah. –Daniel 1:3-7

Daniel was taken from his home, his family, his royal status, had his name changed and was most likely made a eunuch (castrated). Then he was sent to school to learn the ways of the Babylonians. This would include eating food sacrificed to idols and learning to worship their pagan gods. Things could not get much worse for a young Jewish boy.

Daniel determined that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or with the wine he drank. So he asked permission from the chief official not to defile himself.  God had granted Daniel favor and compassion from the chief official,  yet he said to Daniel, “My lord the king assigned your food and drink. I’m afraid of what would happen if he saw your faces looking thinner than those of the other young men your age. You would endanger my life with the king.”

So Daniel said to the guard whom the chief official had assigned to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,  “Please test your servants for 10 days. Let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then examine our appearance and the appearance of the young men who are eating the king’s food, and deal with your servants based on what you see.” He agreed with them about this and tested them for 10 days. At the end of 10 days they looked better and healthier than all the young men who were eating the king’s food.  So the guard continued to remove their food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables. -Daniel 1:8-16

After all that was done to this young man he still revered his God and still sought to honor Him. I find it hard to believe he didn’t get angry believing God had abandoned him. He might easily have given up his faith and said God must not love him. He could have said every man for himself, but he didn’t, he trusted his Lord no matter what.

How many of us today, myself included, can honestly trust God, no matter what?       
I am ashamed to say when things get hard, I feel abandoned. I do cry out to God, but do I have faith? I tend to “expect” God to get me out of my hardship. In some distorted way, I feel God owes it to me to spare me from such problems and discomfort.

Isn’t it amazing that God does His most miraculous work in the rough seas? Often it is in the times of distress that we feel His presence and see His mighty hand at work most. Once the storm is past, we can look back and see how He blessed us in the midst of the storm.

Oh Lord I pray that I would beg for the storms so I can see you work in my life. 
Oh that I would gladly face the fiery trials that draw me nearer to thee.               
Oh Lord, grant me the ability to look to your greatness rather than the perceived greatness of my hardship. 
Help me to praise you in the midst of the storm.

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