Esther 8-10 -- God's Protection & Care

Haman’s order to exterminate all of the Jews could not be rescinded, but Haman had been defeated.  So how does God work that out?  By having King Xerxes issue a second letter giving the Jewish people the right to defend themselves and even take the offensive to remove all their enemies – even those who weren’t actively attacking.  Their families could be slaughtered and their possessions taken.  Now that was a deal!  Just when all seemed hopeless, God stepped in!

Father, thank You for the sure knowledge we have that You will always step in when we are in Your will.  By refusing to use the tactics of Satan and by abiding by biblical principles, we are under Your protection, and You’ve promised to honor us and protect us.  Thank You for Your faithfulness, Father!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Esther 4-7 More Timing Issues

God seems to be continuing yesterday’s theme about timing.  Mordecai had gone into public mourning once he received the news about Haman’s decree.  He asked Esther to intervene.  Despite her fear, she asked Mordecai, her servant girls, and the local Jewish people to fast and pray for 3 days.  Unknown to her, several things were happening during that time.

First, the clock was ticking on how many days it had been since King Xerxes had called for her.  Exactly a month would have passed by the time she finished praying, stoking his desire to see her again.

Second, Haman’s anger at Mordecai was also being stoked, leading to the building of the large platform he planned to use to hang Mordecai.

Esther approached the king and was granted an audience.  Rather than asking immediately for assistance, she requested his attendance at a banquet the following day with Haman, followed by another banquet the day after that.

The delay intrigues the king and also emboldens Haman, thinking he is surely about to be honored.  It also allows for completion of the gallows.  Almost a week has passed.

In a God-directed series of events, Haman’s pride led him to describe to the king a method of honor he thought would be directed toward himself.  However, the king was desiring to honor Mordecai for detecting and reporting an assassination plot.  Mordecai ends up being honored while Haman is hanged.

Father, the world would see no logic in these delays, but You knew exactly what You were doing, completing everything at just the right time.  And You still know what’s on the horizon today.  Father, please intervene soon in the matter I’ve been praying about, but do so in Your timing, not mine.  While I might see no advantage in additional delays, You are sovereign and I trust you.  Work Your will in this, Father.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Esther 1-3 Time Matters

I kept noticing dates in these chapters.  A banquet that lasted 6 months, followed by sort of a “thank you” banquet for the palace staff that lasted a week – no wonder Queen Vashti was tired of it all and refused the king’s summons.

Following her removal as queen, letters went out to all states commanding a beauty pageant of sorts.  But each girl first went through 12 months of beauty treatments.  So more than a year passed from the time Esther was chosen for the program until she was chosen as the next queen by King Xerxes.

For four and a half years, nothing remarkable happened.  Then Haman became offended that Esther’s cousin and adopted father Mordecai wouldn’t bow down to him.  A date was chosen to exterminate all of Mordecai’s people – the Jews.  It was 11 months away.

So six and a half years would pass from the time Esther left her home, spent a night with the king, became queen, and would be called upon to save her people.

Often we ask God to hurry.  But God, in His timing, knows exactly the right time to put plans into place, for He must ready us as well.

Father, I know I’ve been praying for You to hurry on several things.  But You know the best time to have everything come together.  Please give me peace about these things that will settle me in until it’s time.  Then prompt me when it’s time to get going.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Chronicles 36 -- An Unremarkable Ending

It didn’t take much room to squeeze in the last 22 ½ years of Judah’s existence.

A younger brother served about 3 months as king, then his older brother, chosen by the Egyptian king, served for 11 years.  Then his son served only 3 months, followed by his uncle for the remaining eleven years before the Babylonian captivity.

Spiritually, it was a downward spiral for Judah and Jerusalem.  They watched at the end as the Temple was burned to the ground, its treasures having been taken to Babylon to adorn the king’s palace.

Emptiness is the word that keeps popping into my head.  Not only was the country left empty, but so were the people’s hearts.  They’d left God, and now He’d left them.  What could possibly be worse?

Father, there is no worse feeling than walking away from You and then having You walk away from us.  But You do it out of love, to draw us back to You.  Right now I’m so fearful for our country.  The choices our government is making appear to be leading us down the path of ruin, and away from You.  Please halt the slide, Father.  Shake us up and cause us to pay attention before it is too late.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Chronicles 34-35 What It Takes

An 8-year-old boy becomes king when his 24-year-old father dies.  He must have had good mentors and teachers, yet their names are never mentioned, for at age 16 “he began to obey the God of his ancestor David.”  Four years later, he set about removing the gods, the places for worshiping them, and all the idols.

It took 6 years to rid Judah of all traces of idol worship – a Herculean task.  Restoring the Temple, which had fallen into disrepair, Josiah’s workmen found something of great importance – a copy of the teachings of Moses.  Josiah had been obeying God without even having a copy of the Bible to go by!  Once he began to hear the word of the Lord, he felt horrible sadness at how far his nation had moved from God.  Seeking to know how God felt about the newly-observant people of Judah, Josiah sent for word from a prophetess.  One thing God told her really stuck with me:  “When you heard My words against this place and its people, you became sorry for what you had done and you humbled yourself before Me … You cried in My presence.  This is why I have heard you.”

Josiah thought about what he’d heard from God’s word and decided to act to conform his life to God’s will.

My Bible’s sidebar today echoes this:  “Did I want what I wanted, or did I want what He wanted, no matter what it might cost?  Until the will AND the affections are brought under the authority of Christ, we have not begun to understand, let along to accept His Lordship.”

Outwardly, we can look like we’re being obedient.  Yet our will and our affections can still be pulling us off course.  Too often, surrendering them can feel like we are giving up all that we are, yet that’s what God is calling us to do.  Reluctance is often a sign of lack of trust, and we have to ask ourselves if that is what holds us back.

Father, I admit that I need to turn over more to You.  Help me not to hold back, but to trust You.  I want to be all-in.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Chronicles 33 -- Does Our Relationship With Our Fathers Impact Our Relationship With God?

Hezekiah’s son Manasseh became king at age twelve, and for 55 years he ruled Judah.  Manasseh seemed to detest God as much as his father Hezekiah had loved God.  It makes me wonder if sons make their decisions about God based on their relationships with their fathers – if they dislike their fathers, then they dislike their father’s choice of God or gods.

Despite Manasseh’s hatred of God, God pursued him.  When he didn’t respond, God sent him to Babylon as a prisoner of the Assyrians.  Finally Manasseh begged God for help, humbled himself, and prayed to God.  God heard and took pity on him, restoring him to rule in Jerusalem, where Manasseh did everything he could to remove the idol worship he’d promoted for years.

Unfortunately, Manasseh’s son Amon didn’t share his father’s newfound love for God.  He reversed his father’s reforms, taking the nation even deeper into sin.  After ruling for only two years, his own staff killed him, and his son Josiah was made king. 

Father, it seems that so many of us feel that we just have to taste the wild side of life away from You, just so we’ll know that Your commands for living really are better.  I too felt like I had to do that, and I regret those wasted years.  Please lead me as I lead my sons.  Help them to see that I try to be a man after Your own heart.  Lead them to trust in Your faithfulness and Your love.  Let them not feel the need to taste life away from You.  And let me never try it again.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

2 Chronicles 31 -- Calling Out To God And Trusting Him

Much of what’s in this chapter is fleshed out in 2 Kings 18.  Hezekiah had compromised in several areas that weren’t mentioned here, causing many of his own problems. 

The part that really attracted my attention today occurred while the Assyrian king Sennacherib was attacking Jerusalem and verbally attacking Hezekiah and God.  Hezekiah encouraged his people why facing overwhelming odds, by saying, “There is a greater power with us than with him.  He only has men, but we have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.”

That’s the way I feel right now, too, Father.  In the midst of sickness at home and the trials of everyday work, I know that my God reigns, and that You are greater than anything or anyone.  You are more than able to see us through, and You are more than enough for me.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford