Faith

Lessons from Queen Esther – Prepared, Polished and Poised

Hey there!

Today we would be looking at the story of Queen Esther and take a few lessons from her story. You know, I always tell people that there is a reason God has sent people ahead of us and it is this – so that we learn from them, then we do not have to make the mistakes they made and we also learn from what made their path excellent.

Queen Esther’s story is so inspiring and thought-provoking! Starting from how she won a beauty contest held in the King’s palace even though she was a “foreigner” in the land to how she went against all odds and paid no regards to the threat over her own life just to save her people.

Esther went through various stages in life and I have tried to summarize it – Prepared, Polished and Poised!

  • Prepared…

In chapter two, we see how that Esther had an uncle, Mordecai who after the death of her parents, took her in and mentored her as his own daughter. We also see how Queen Esther submitted to and obeyed him to the letter. She obeyed when she was asked to keep her identity to herself. She obeyed when Mordecai called on her for help.

Now, she didn’t look down on him because she was Queen. She remembered her roots even as a Queen and submitted to authority. This act of obedience and submission to authority protected her from harm and eventually set her in the path of saving her people.

So we see how Esther allowed God prepare her for royalty by submitting to authority. I ask you dear sisters and brothers (Well, even brothers can learn from Queen Esther! Hehehe!), Do you have a Mordecai in your life or are the one who is tossed to and fro by your will without an anchor?

Truly, I tell you the place of a mentor; a spiritual father cannot be overemphasized. Many times, this father is not your biological father but like jokingly tell my girlfriends, I cannot marry a man who is not under some authority because when he goes astray and isn’t heeding God’s instructions, I need a man/woman of authority whom I can talk to and be rest assured that my husband will listen to and obey. A woman/man who isn’t under authority is at risk.

Yes, I know we have the Holy Spirit on our inside. Halleluyah! But I tell you of a truth, there are men and women God has placed over us to prepare us for greatness, Are you willing to submit and obey? Let me quickly say, this man/woman of authority like Mordecai must be godly. Then and only then can they be used of God to prepare you aright.

Queen Esther was also humble to take advice from Hegai (the eunuch in charge of the young maidens at the palace during the contest). Let’s look at this critically. So after many days of preparation, Queen Esther was to finally appear before the king. She had Mr. Hegai, the eunuch as an attendant to her and he was to give her whatsoever she needed to appear before the king.

Now I imagine this in our present day, one would have asked for the most expensive dress most likely one from overseas, the likes of Mummy Tara or Aunty Bimpe for our make-up, expensive and sophisticated accessories, perfume and what have you. But not Queen Esther. She was a woman of wisdom.

Knowing that the eunuch would have a better idea of what the king would like as he served in the palace, she was humble enough to say, “Look, I don’t care about sophistication. Tell me what I must do and that is sufficient for me”. Now that’s wisdom and humility at work!

Are you willing to be humble enough to admit that you do not know it all? Are you willing and humble enough to take advice and constructive criticisms from people seemingly lower in rank than you?

Queen Esther prepared to go in for the contest with humility, wisdom, and submission to authority? How prepared are you??? God needs us to submit ourselves to the processes he has orchestrated around us to prepare us for what is ahead. Trust me when I say, God has so so much in store for us. But I ask you, how prepared are you, my friend?

  • Polished…

I am sure you are very much aware that Queen Esther was a beautiful woman, a woman of fine finesse. From her first appearance before the king throughout her reign, she was a polished woman. We see in the latter part of chapter two, that after taking Mr. Hegai’s advice, she was loved by everyone that saw her. Now, what’s that? She dressed well! In fact, the bible records in that same chapter that when Oga King saw her, He loved her so much, far more than the other maidens and He immediately put an end to the contest. Mhmmmmm…. I think you’d agree with me that there was indeed something about her dressing that brought admiration and won the heart of the King!

As young believers, God is our king. Is your dressing bringing glory to Him? I heard someone say recently, Modesty is the new cool. Well, I’d say modesty has always been cool. Doing things the right way, God’s way is never out of fashion!

But truly, it’s no longer cool to dress scantily or sag your pants. There are beautiful Christian clothing lines that are not disappointing at all. One of such is Lifegiva Stores. *shining my teeth* honestly, you don’t have to look sad or like one who is mourning to be adorable. You can trust the God in you to be creative enough to be modest! So yes, I say to you: dress to please the King as Queen Esther did, only this time: it is for the King of all Kings – Jehovah.

Dress the way you would love to be addressed. It is high time Christian youths stopped dressing like the world!

What good thing/person do you want to attract that modesty can’t get you? None that I see if you ask me. If you don’t believe me, ask Queen Esther, I’m sure she’d tell you that doing things God’s way including in our dressing pays. It is even beyond our dressing, our language and mannerism should be such that is befitting for royalty because that is what we are – royalty! (1 Peter !:9)

  • Poised…

I’m sure you’d agree with me that Queen Esther did well balancing out as the Queen to the King and a helper to her people. She positioned herself so well that God was able to use her. This boils down to her preparation. We see how that in chapter four of the book of Esther, her uncle, and mentor, Mordecai called for her to go to the king to plead on behalf of the Jews.

A quick throwback: Esther was a Jew although nobody knew and a decree had gone out to eliminate all the Jews from the land. So her uncle was requesting for her to appear before the king to reverse the decree. She objected initially. There was a rule in place, if she appeared before Oga King without being summoned, she risked death.

Mordecai didn’t give up even after being aware of the rule and Esther’s objection. He said to her, ”Who knows if perhaps you were made Queen for just such a time as this?” And that was all she needed: a reminder of the fact that there was a calling, a purpose upon her life. She swung into action and acted accordingly and God gave the Jews victory.

How well are you positioning yourself? We see again how critically important having a spiritual father is. God has given them the ability to call forth the winner in us even when we can’t see beyond our limitations. Esther after being stirred up by her uncle called for her maids to fast for her. Mind you, this was in a foreign land. They weren’t Jews in that land, but Esther surrounded herself with people she could rely on. She had as her maids and allies people who could fast for her.

A wise man once said, your friends and close associates would, in the long run, determine your success in life. That is very true. How many of your friends or close allies can you say to, “Please hold a fast for me – so I can pray to the God of heaven?”

A few other lessons…

Esther was fearless and courageous.

After the fasting and prayer, she said to herself, “I will go in to see the king and if I perish, I perish!” Now that some really great faith! She had confidence in her God and what He can do, but beyond that she was selfless enough to risk her life for her people.

Even when she has obtained grace before the king and she’d been asked to bare her request even up to half of the kingdom, she could have forgotten the Jews and asked for the kingdom but she remained focused! She knew something brought her before the king and she remained focused on that goal till she fulfilled it.

We as believers can be distracted by so much. It’s high time to remain focus and live purposefully.

Its time for us to be ever conscious of the fact that we are here for just a time as this.

So guys, do share with us in the comment box, what other lessons can you point out from this great woman, Queen Esther?

Read also;

THE ADVENTURES OF JOCHE

THE BOY WHO SCREAMED

About author

Articles

Tolulope Oludapo is a young Christian who lends his voice through the media by sharing practical wisdom for everyday living in the most experiential and simplified fashion. This has fetched him the direct followership of over 30,000 users on his blog, lifegiva.com. A blog he founded. He loves to write on varying subjects that affect life, faith, relationship...everyday living.
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