HOW TO SUCCEED IN LIFE - PART 3

DAY 173:  Part 3 of 4 in lessons from the book of Esther on HOW TO SUCCEED IN LIFE.

If Esther and Mordecai are examples of how avoiding the trap of bitterness can move you ahead on the path of success, the newest character exemplifies how bitterness can derail even the best prospects for success.

Beginning in chapter 3, we meet what appears to be the rising star of Persia.  Haman, an official in the king's court, comes on the scene in what appears to be an unstoppable rise.

Esther 3:1  King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles.  ² All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him.

Second only to the King himself, Haman had achieved all the success he could have dreamed of, yet there was a fly in the ointment that seemed to spoil all his success.

2 But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. ⁵ When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. ⁶ Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.

The Persian Empire of Haman's Day.

As the defacto Prime Minister of Persia, Haman was in essence the second most powerful man in the world.  At that time, Persia was more dominate and more vast than anything the ancient world had seen; it was unparalleled by any empire to that point in history.  Haman virtually had cart-blanch as the king's designate, but that was not enough.  With all he had at his fingertips and all the potential success portended, his focus was on just one thing: revenge.  

He was so enraged that Mordecai would not bow down to him that it overshadowed everything. His obsession became retaliation.  Bitterness and pride ate at him from the inside out. He could not move on until Mordecai and his entire race were destroyed.  Such is the power of bitterness to overtake reason.  Where Esther and Mordecai looked past the hurts and forward to what opportunities their situation offered, Haman became consumed by offenses.

With the king's approval Haman set his revenge in motion.

¹² So on April 17 the king’s secretaries were summoned, and a decree was written exactly as Haman dictated. It was sent to the king’s highest officers, the governors of the respective provinces, and the nobles of each province in their own scripts and languages. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king’s signet ring. ¹³ Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews—young and old, including women and children—must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day. This was scheduled to happen on March 7 of the next year. The property of the Jews would be given to those who killed them.

Acting out of bitterness will prove to be the turning point that derails Haman's pursuit of success. Conversely, the choices that Mordecai and Esther make in response to the decree will ensure theirs.  

4:1 When Mordecai learned about all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on burlap and ashes, and went out into the city, crying with a loud and bitter wail. ³ And as news of the king’s decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.

Enter a new character to our story.  You may have noted by now that God has not been mentioned in this story.  It is easily missed since we automatically associate the history of the Jews with the God of the Jews.  God has been involved in the nation of Israel since he established them as a nation set apart for His own purposes.  It is God who sent them into exile because of their faithlessness.  Interestingly, however, God's name is not mentioned anywhere in the story of Esther.  He is the invisible God - or is He?  

From this point in the story on we see Mordecai and Esther, and the entire exiled nation of Israel,  inviting the invisible God into their situation.  For Jews, fasting was a strictly spiritual activity.  We may fast to detoxify our bodies, loose weight or even meditate. Jews fasted as a sign of repentance, grieving and humility before God.  Fasting was done in full expectation that God would see their brokenness, hear their prayers and intervene in their situations.  While Haman took an unbearable situation into his own hands and according to his own wisdom, Mordecai and Esther laid their unbearable situation at the feet of Almighty God.  

I LOVE THAT GOD IS "INVISIBLE" IN THIS STORY.  While it would be awesome to physically see God in my circumstances, like Israel did with the pillar of fire and the cloud, or hear his voice through prophets and angels, the reality is that God is invisible in my daily life.  He is there but by faith I have to invite Him into to take control of my life and circumstances. That is exactly what Mordecai and Esther and the Jews did by turning to God through fasting. They were seeking wisdom from God and His power to save them. GOD MAY BE INVISIBLE BUT HE IS ALSO INVINCIBLE and that was their confidence. 

After seeking God, Mordecai knew what needed to be done.  He sent a message to Esther telling her that she must plead for the Jews before the king.  By all accounts, such action would be suicide, and Esther knew it.  She may have been queen, but she was still the servant of the king. Anyone who approached him without being summoned risked death - only to be spared if the king decided to hold out the scepter and allow the uninvited to approach. She expressed her very understandable fears in a message back to Mordecai, who responded with his now often quoted reply. 

¹³ Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. ¹⁴ If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

I love Mordecai's confidence that God's rescue is not dependent on Esther.  God's purposes will be accomplished with or without our help. In light of that truth, Esther chose to join God - but not without His help. It's a classic case of being willing to be willing.  She knew she needed God's strength and intervention if her part in the plan was to succeed.  

¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “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 perish, I perish."

The results were not up to her and she knew it; but she was willing to put herself and her success into God's hands. After the days of fasting, Esther had both the plan and the courage to move forward. 

Conventional wisdom would say that their plan was doomed to fail. No one approached the king.  And complicating the situation was the irrevocable nature of the decree according the the laws of the Medes and Persians.  A decree was a decree and even the king could not revoke one of his own laws.  Conventional wisdom would also predict success for Haman who had craftily secured such an irrevocable decree. As we will see, all such wisdom of the world bows to the power of God.  

SO, LESSON NUMBER 3 in HOW TO SUCCEED IN LIFE: What this story illustrates Jesus stated plainly: "Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you." Matthew 6:28   

The wisdom of this world has limitations because man has limitations.  God, however, sees the beginning from the end.  He knows all and has all power.  And, equally important, He invites us to come, lay our burdens at his feet, learn from Him and receive that wisdom.  Esther and Mordecai resisted the temptation to lean on their own understanding and instead acknowledge the invisible God and trust him to make their paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6) It bears repeating: GOD MAY BE INVISIBLE BUT HE IS ALSO INVINCIBLE.

Just in case I missed this message, the Proverbs accompanying this day's reading remind me again that those who pursue a path that seeks God will arrive at best kind of success.

^{Proverbs 21:21}  

Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love
    will find life, righteousness, and honor.

²² The wise conquer the city of the strong
    and level the fortress in which they trust.

  
  

Esther 4
1 Corinthians 14:1-17
Psalm 37:12-29
Proverbs 21:21-27