I was blessed to participate in the Beth Moore Study “Esther: It’s Tough Being a Woman” study this past fall. Often what happens in studies like these is that specific things stick out to me that are applicable to my current journey with God. I’m going to try to write a series integrating what I learned from this study, using what stuck out most to me each week. I would highly encourage you to do this study if given the chance, I will never look at the story of Esther the same way.
Beth Moore presents the book of Esther as an example that God requests “human responsibility”. Simply put, we are not to walk blindly or apathetically through life, but take an active role, seeking out the best ways to serve our God in this gift of life we are given.
3 lessons to be presented in the book of Esther are: We are sometimes called to meet God and Be Still.
God is not going to fulfill your destiny without you! God WILL fulfill Christ’s destiny with our without me.
The first chapter of Esther doesn’t even introduce us to Esther. Instead we meet King Xerses and Queen Vashti. Both King and Queen are hosting separate banquets. The King’s banquet is getting quickly out of control as the alcohol has no limit. A week of drinking and eating gets the men a bit crazy and eventually Queen Vashti is summoned to humiliate herself for the men. She refuses, and the wheels are set in motion.
My thoughts on this first chapter:
- God is never mentioned, nor does He seem present as these banquets are not in any way honoring to Him. Of course we know God is always present.
- We are given the first insights as to the type of weak leader King Xerses is.
- We are seeing an example of God using ALL things for His glory. Nothing about this chapter is honoring or glorifying to God and yet, he uses a human situation to set the wheels in motion to protect His people.
It’s hard to know what the women heard about what happened with their queen. My guess is it was pretty nerve wrecking to hear the new law that a wife could easily be replaced. It must have made some wonder what would become of their new way of life. For Esther, she wasn’t even married, yet I bet she never guessed she would soon become the new queen!
A final thought: I can’t imagine that those looking at the new reality in front of them could have begun to anticipate all that would transpire over the next few years. It’s hard to know while in the midst of a crisis that it’s going exactly according to plan. I take comfort in knowing that even when I am feeling distant from God He is still present, still working to fulfill Christ’s ultimate destiny.
About Beth
Thanks for this, Beth! I recently had somebody point out to me that God is never mentioned in the book of Esther…I love the points that you made here. Amen!