Time For Action

Time for Action

Queen Esther

Read: Esther 6; 7

Vanessa stood at the edge of the set and peered up at the bright overhead lights. Trying out for a commercial had seemed like an exciting adventure, but now she wasn’t so sure. She had her few lines of dialogue memorized, and she understood exactly how they wanted her to deliver them, but she hadn’t envisioned this throng of people hovering around during the filming. As she blotted the perspiration from her forehead with the back of her hand, Vanessa heard the director call out, “Lights, camera, action!” Vanessa froze.

Sometimes it’s hard to restrain ourselves from acting impulsively; at other times it’s difficult to act at all. Queen Esther avoided pleading the Jews’ case with Xerxes the first two times he asked for her request. The next night, the king learned that Mordecai had saved his life but had never been rewarded. This made the banquet the next day the perfect time to tell Xerxes about Haman’s plot to exterminate the Jews. It took courage for Esther to accuse the king’s most trusted advisor of treachery, but she knew that God had set the stage and given her the cue to play her assigned role.

Instead of acting in haste, Esther depended on God to show her the right time to move. By the time she told Xerxes that she was among the people scheduled for annihilation, God had arranged events in such a way that the king saw Haman and his plan in a different light than before. When we face a problem, God may want us to wait for him to order events. But we also need to ask for the wisdom and courage to be ready to do our part. By depending on prayer and God’s guidance, we won’t freeze when he directs us to act.

Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.

Ephesians 5:17