Esther 5:1 “Faith & Feet”

Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹And it was in the day of the third and Esther put on royal [clothes] and she stood in the court of the house of the king inside opposite the house of the king and the king [was] sitting upon the throne of his royalty in the house of the royalty opposite the gate of the house.

This is one of those verses in the Bible where we need to stop and ponder deeply what it teaches us. As is often the case with verses like this, it appears at first glance as just a statement of fact carrying forward the narrative of our book. Esther put on her royal robes and went and stood in the presence of the king. That seems very “matter of fact.” However, I would suggest our problem here is that we know “the end of the story.”

Esther does not. Therein lies the enormity of what she can teach us here. Esther does not know the end of the story. For all she knows, verse 2 will tell how the king flew into a rage and commanded his attendants to execute her. For all she knows as she awakens on this the third day, it may very well be the day of her death. She wasn’t kidding when she said, “I will go and stand before the king, and if I perish, I perish.”

Again, I would urge anyone reading these words to put away our casual reading of these words. There is nothing “casual” going on here. For all Esther knows, she is walking to her death. If you would learn from this passage, let the terror she must feel fill your own mind. The man on the throne is not your kindly old Uncle Joe. This is Xerxes. The man on the throne is a cruel tyrant with a violent temper. Esther may be his queen but he has a few hundred other pretty girls he keeps in his harem toy box. This is the man who had all the engineers killed because a storm came along and destroyed a bridge he was building. In fact, in that situation, he even ordered his men to whip the water with chains to punish it for destroying his bridge.

Esther would have every reason in the world to be absolutely terrified at the thought of barging into the king’s presence uninvited. As she said, “There is only one law for anyone approaching the king uninvited—to be put to death.” Esther does not know the end of the story. She doesn’t know what the next five minutes will hold. She only knows that for the love of her people, she must do this.

Slow down and let your heart join Esther in her terror. She isn’t made out of cardboard. She is a real human being just like you and me. Though we may know her to be a young woman of great faith and love, she is still human and, for all she knows, she’s walking to her death.

Do you ever face hard situations? Do you ever feel duty calling you, it would seem, to your death? Of course you do. You face it in a million different situations every day. Sometimes it is as simple as a phone call you really don’t want to make.  No doubt, just like Esther, there may be some monumental fear you must face in the life God has given you to live. But whether it be the little fears of everyday duties or the great fear of that one momentous challenge of our destinies, we all know deeply exactly what Esther is facing. We’ve all been there. In fact, it’s where we live.

In this, there is much to learn.

In this moment, Esther takes her place beside so many other people of faith. I think of Ruth standing there beside Naomi on the east side of the Jordan. Orpah turned back to “her people and her gods,” to the comfort and security of the familiar. But Ruth said, “Your people will be my people, and your God my God,” then crossed the Jordan with Naomi--walking into a future that could have ended very badly. Like Esther, she didn’t know the end of the story. But her faith moved her feet in spite of her fears.

I think of Ruth’s great grandson David as he walked out onto the battlefield with his slingshot. He too had much to fear. He too was walking to his death, but he asked, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” He told Saul, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine.” I think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as they stood there before a very angry Nebuchadnezzar and said, “Our God whom we serve is able to save us from the fiery furnace, and He may, but even if He does not, we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

We could multiply examples throughout the Bible and certainly admire every one of these people, but I want to point out again that this is what you and I face every day. Ours may be a million “little” fears, but they are fears nevertheless. And to be people of integrity, people of faith, we too must step into our futures doing the right thing, the loving thing, and simply trust our God with that future.

He tells us, “Fear not, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged; I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness…for I, the Lord your God will hold your right hand, saying to you, “Fear not. I will help you” (Isa. 41:10,14). He would have us remember, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a well-ordered mind” (II Tim. 1:7).

Esther would teach us today that fear doesn’t have to control us. We, like her, can rise above those fears and be people of integrity. We can go to our jobs and face even the difficult assignments, the difficult people, the difficult deadlines, and yet go on being kind, encouraging and helpful to others. Although we may feel the “terror,” it doesn’t have to control us. Faith can be the engine that moves our feet.