I don’t know how it feels to be a beautiful woman. For the record I am a greying paunchy middle aged man. (Well I did dress in drag once but that’s different.) Like every other human permutation, I would guess that being a beautiful woman has it’s plus and minus moments. It must be great to be always admired and desired. But maybe there is also the niggling thought as to whether anyone sees the real person beyond the bodily contours du jour.
But beauty has its uses. Even in God’s economy. Because of her great beauty (and the judicious use of the right beauty treatments), Esther was chosen by King Xerxes to replace his somewhat independent spirited Queen Vashti (Esther Chapters 1 & 2).
Little did Esther know that this promotion from beauty queen to Persian Queen would place her in a position where she would have to make the decision of her life.
There was a conspiracy to slaughter all the Jews in the Kingdom, and she being a Jew herself, was asked to intervene on behalf of her community, to let her husband know that the basis of the accusation against the Jews was baseless.
But men being men, they sometimes forget their wives, even beautiful ones, when preoccupied by matters of state. The King had not asked to see Esther for more than a month. (I guess there were desperate housewives even in the royal palaces of ancient Persia.) And the law of the land was that no one approached the King unsummoned on penalty of death unless he gave a special dispensation.
It was a desperate hour. A whole race, God’s people were about to be annihilated. Esther was asked to act. But she was fully aware that if she went to the King unsummoned she ran the risk of having her pretty head separated from her gorgeous body. One can understand her hesitation.
In trying to encourage Esther to do the right thing, this is what Mordecai, her cousin and guardian said:
“Don’t think for a moment that you will escape there in the palace when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. What’s more, who can say but that you have been elevated to the palace for just such a time as this?” [Esther 4:13b – 14 NLT]
This was Esther’s response:
“Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ‘Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I am willing to die.’ ” [Esther 4:15 – 16 NLT]
Mordecai’s exhortation and Esther’s reply teaches us two things.
First, God’s will will be done. If it is God’s will to deliver the Jews He will do it one way or another. The failure of any individual to be God’s instrument cannot stop the purposes of God. God is God. Nothing and no one can thwart His sovereign purposes.
Sometimes in our desire to challenge people to serve we might give the impression that if people don’t do their part God is stymied. Mordecai doesn’t make that mistake. His view of God is bigger. And more accurate. God’s will will be done.
But the mystery of God’s will is that it takes into account the real decisions of real people. Esther had a choice to make and her choice would be computed into how God’s will is carried out. Here again is the eternal mystery of the sovereign will of God and the real choices of human beings.
Therefore the second lesson we learn from Mordecai’s exhortation is that the Lord invites us to be part of His purposes. Sometimes His invitations are high stakes invitations indeed. On one hand Esther could be executed. On the other she could be instrumental in saving a whole race, God’s chosen people. Talk about your tough choices!!
It does mean however that God takes our contribution to His purposes very seriously. Our Daddy in heaven allows us to be in the thick of the action. We are not relegated to the kiddies pool. The choices we make everyday impact on God’s work in eternity.
Sometimes the choices could indeed be very costly ones. Like Esther’s. Will we follow the example of Esther and do the right thing whatever the cost?
Clearly Esther is not some super heroine unencumbered by fear. She hears the exhortations of her mentor Mordecai and decides for the right. As her Lord would one day do in the garden of Gethsemene. But she knows it will be touch and go. She asks for prayer. But she does the right thing.
Not bad for a beauty queen. Beneath the curves there was a heart of faith. And she ends up getting her own book in the bible. A lesson for the times.
In many places and in many ways in the world today, it seems like the forces of evil are overwhelming and God’s purposes and God’s people are threatened. For those who care, and I am blessed by many friends who do, this is a scenario that evokes much agitation and anxiety. For them, and for me, we need to be reminded that God will never lose. One way or another He will achieve His purposes in the end.
The question we have to face is this: what will He have me do in this place and time? What are the choices we are to make as His people? Why Has He put us where we are?
May we decide today as Esther did. May we make the right choices. Whatever the risks. Whatever the costs. In God’s unfolding story may we find ourselves in the “faithful” side of the ledger.
It’s not easy living like this. We will need friends. We will need prayer partners. We will need our Mordecais to remind us of what is the right thing to do and the meaning of our lives. We will need to be Mordecais to each other.
Few of us will end up as beauty queens. But we all can exhibit the beauty of faithfulness. Guess which beauty lasts for eternity.
Your brother, Soo-Inn Tan