16 And when Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, 17 the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. 18 Then the king gave a great feast for all his officials and servants; it was Esther’s feast. He also granted a remission of taxes to the provinces and gave gifts with royal generosity.
ESTHER 2:16-18 ESV
The Queen is crowned! Esther was chosen to be the queen to replace Vashti. Esther’s life has been extraordinary so far. She was a descendent of the promised nation raised by her cousin in a foreign land. She was taken to the king’s harem and found favor with all she met. And she was finally selected to be the queen of the great kingdom, Persia. This remarkable course of events was not an accident, nor was it merely because Esther was a beautiful woman both inside and out. It was God’s gracious hands at work.
No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt themselves. It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.
Psalm 75:6-7
God promoted Esther from a humble orphan girl to the beautiful and majestic queen of Persia for a special purpose – to save the nation of Israel from the evil scheme to come later. If this sounds familiar to you, that is because the Almighty God also did a similar amazing work through Joseph. He exalted Joseph from a slave and a prisoner to the Prime Minister of Egypt to save the family of Israel from the great famine.
Our God is faithful. He never forgets His covenant with Abraham. Throughout Bible history, it is not hard to notice God is working behind the scenes to teach, protect, and save His promised nation, Israel, through many of His chosen servants and vessels.
The Bible is full of His great promises to His children, and He never forgets any of them, either. But if you have not noticed yet, I pray that you see now – fulfilling His great promises requires faith and cooperative actions from His children.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
We may have different roles and positions, but we all have a place in God’s plan. Wherever we are right now, God has a purpose for it. We can trust that He is doing His wonderful work behind the scene, and His marvelous work will be revealed in His perfect time.
Humbly pray today and ask:
- God, help me to be keen on your wonderful work;
- Teach me what I can do to cooperate with you now and when the time comes;
- Give me the strength to leave the situation of “willing in spirit but weak in the flesh” to answer your call and step out for you.
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