Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Esther-s-Finest-Hour-Part-1

Transcript

Esther-s-Finest-Hour-Part-1 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: It's not difficult to determine the quality of tea. All
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: you need to do is dip the tea bag in
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: boiling water and then take a sip. The truth is
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: in the flavor. In like manner, to measure a person's integrity,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: simply drop them into an impossible situation and see what
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: happens today on inside. For living Chucks, Wendall points to
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: one of his favorite Old Testament characters. Esther lived in
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: treacherous times, and in the crucible of a crisis, she
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: discovered something that made all the difference, the quiet, transforming
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: power of waiting on the Lord.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: When you wail the Lord, you don't have to walk
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: around in a day's humming sweet hour of prayer or
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: some other old hymn. You don't have to go out
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: on some hillside and strum a guitar all by yourself. Mostly,
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: you keep up your regular activities, You go right on
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: with your business. Your spirit, however, settles into a posture
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: of trust as you prayerfully place your problem into the
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: Lord's hands, and you wait for his timing and for
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: his strength. That's right where we find Esther in today's account,
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: when she accepted her mission to save her people, the Jews.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: She asked Mordecai to gather all the Jews in Sousa
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: to pray and to fast for three days. She and
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: her maidens did the same. The three day fast was
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: a quiet yet powerful interlude in the queen's life. Waiting
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: on the Lord strengthened her resolve, so when it came
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: time for her to act, she was prepared emotionally and spiritually,
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: and she knew that God was with her. I want
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: to read for you sections from the fifth chapter of Esther,
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: which describes the precarious moment when Queen Esther goes before
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: the King uninvited. I'm reading again from the New American
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Standard Bible. Listen please, as chapter five begins at verse one. Now,
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: it came about on the third day that Esther put
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: on her royal robes and stood in the inner court
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: of the King's palace in front of the King's rooms,
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: and the King was sitting on his royal throne in
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. When
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: the King saw Esther, the Queen, standing in the court,
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: she obtained favor in his sight, and the King extended
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: to Ester the golden scepter which was in his hand.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: So Esther came near and touched the top of the scepter.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: Then the King said to her, what is troubling you,
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: Queen Esther, And what is your request? Even to half
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: of the kingdom, it shall be given to you. Esther said,
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: if it pleases the King, may the King and Hayman
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: come this day to the banquet that I have prepared
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: for him. Then the King said, bring Hayman quickly, that
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: we may do as Esther desires. So the King and
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Hayman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared. Now,
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: in verse twelve we get a glimpse of Hayman's inflated ego.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: Don't miss that, although honored to be invited to the banquet,
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: he was obsessed with rage toward Mordecai, and what he
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: did next sealed his fate. Now listen closely, as I
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: began in verse twelve, Hamon also said, even as to
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: the Queen, let no one but me come with the
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: king to the banquet which she had prepared. And tomorrow
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: also I'm invited by her with the king. Yet all
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: of this does not satisfy me. Every time I see Mordecai,
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: the Jew, sitting at the king's gate. Then Zares, his
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: wife and all his friends said to him, have a
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: gallows fifty cubits high made, and in the morning asked
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: the king to have Mordecai hanged on it. Then go
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: joyfully with the king to the banquet. And the advice
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Inside for a Living. To dig deeper
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: into the Book of Esther on your own, be sure
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: to purchase our Searching the Scripture's Bible Study workbook by
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: going to inside dot org slash offer Chuck title today's message,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: Esther's Finest Hour.
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: When it comes to touching the heart, few things can
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: be compared to a song or a story. We all
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: know occasions where the right music mixed with the right
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: lyrics wooed us back to God, or maybe a friend
• 5:37
  Speaker 3: of ours, a song that our mother taught us or sang,
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: or some song we heard in.
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: A church service years ago.
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: There is nothing quite like the nostalgia that brings us
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: like a magnet back to the heart of God. Seems
• 5:55
  Speaker 3: to soften the soil of our souls, and a story
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: will do the same.
• 6:02
  Speaker 4: When you have the right characters who carry out life issues.
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: In a plot that is mixed with adventure and surprise
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: and some humor along with purpose an ultimate moral of
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: the story. There's something about that story that sweeps us
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: into a right state of mind. I don't know of
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: a song that's found in the book of Esther, but
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: what a story, huh. It's a story of adventure and suspense,
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: mixed with enough courage and hope and a little bit
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: of humor and a measure of surprise, and it sort
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: of holds our attention. I was thinking this past week
• 6:52
  Speaker 3: how great it would be to make this story into
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: a film, or to have it become a play where
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: people who knew the lord of the story could carry
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: out with passion words like Mordecai, as he says to
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: Esther in Ester four verse fourteen, if you remain silent
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: Jews from another place, and you and your father's house
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: royalty for such a time as this. And with incredible courage,
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: Ester answers Mordecai's admonition with go and assemble all the
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: Jews who are found in Sousa and fast for me.
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: Do not eat or drink for three days night or day.
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: I and my.
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: Maidens also will fast in the same way. She answers,
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: I will go to the king, which is not according
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: to law.
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: And if I perish, I perish.
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: And I can just hear the audience applaud as the
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: curtain closes, and this grand speech that prepares her to
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: step into the place where she is not invited and
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: to do what the king had not expected.
• 8:26
  Speaker 4: And she says, if I perish, so be it. What
• 8:31
  Speaker 4: courage C. S. Lewis would have been proud of her.
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: You may remember he is the one who said, we
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: have people with heads, and we have people with hearts.
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: What we need is people with chests. The old American
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: word is guts. We need people with guts who will say,
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: I will stand for this if I die. It's amazing
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: what it does to the story of esther. She says,
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: if I perish, I perish. But my conscience will not
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: let me do other than what I have decided to do.
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: I'm reminded of another who did the same. His name
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: was Martin Luther. The date was April eighteenth fifteen twenty
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: one at the Diet of Arms, where he said, here
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: I stand, I can do no other God help me, amen.
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: And the major prelates of the Roman Church despised him
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: to the bone, and they would have killed him if
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: they could. They excommunicated him, But there he stood. God
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: helped him, and he struck the torch that lit the
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: fire for the Protestant Reformation.
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: Would you do that?
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: Would you be excommunicated from your church that stands against
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: the very things of scripture? Would you have that kind
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: of guts? That's why we admire a woman like Esther.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: And she not only says she will do it, she
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: does it. She doesn't talk theory and then deliver trash.
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: She does what she says she will do, not knowing
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: if she would live to see that evening sunset. Between
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: chapter four and chapter five of this ancient book of Esther,
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: there is a white space in my Bible, and there
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: is in yours. Nothing is recorded. We began reading in
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: chapter five of a woman who walks into the presence
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: of the king, not knowing what the future held, literally
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: breaking the law of the land to interrupt the king uninvited.
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: And it's easy for us to pass over this white space.
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: And miss the significance of it. It represents a silent
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: yet powerful interlude. How easy to forget the source of
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: Esther's strength, How easy for us to believe that she
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: will just sort of born with a joan of arc conscience,
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: that she was a Florence Nightingale right out of the womb,
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: just as no one is born prejudice, no one is
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: born courageous. Do you teach your children to stand alone?
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: Are you teaching your grandchildren to be people of character?
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: Regardless that is the way they will learn it?
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: Better?
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: Still, are you modeling it that leaves the message permanently etched.
• 11:33
  Speaker 4: In their minds?
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: You see, Esther did not come unto this earth with
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: a courageous heart. She learned it from her mentor and
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: adoptive father, Mordecai. He knew how far he could stretch
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: her with his challenge, and she took the bait and said,
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: I'll do exactly as you have taught me to do.
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: But remember it isn't in her own heart. You may
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: have already forgotten her request. She says in the fourth chapter,
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: verse sixteen, You and all the Jews in Sousa.
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: Fast for three days, and.
• 12:16
  Speaker 3: My maidens and I will do the same. I take
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: it that implied in this time of fasting where they
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: do not eat, is also a time of prayer.
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: She is waiting on the Lord. That's what fasting is
• 12:32
  Speaker 4: all about.
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: She has challenged Mordecai to round up as many as
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: he can find, who are the people of God in
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: the streets of Susa and the vast residential areas where
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: the Jews lived, And she is saying, pray for me,
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: fast for me and my maidens, and I will do
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: the same, and we will see what God will do.
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: Will wait on the Lord.
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: Now, even though there's white space between these two chapters,
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: don't think for a moment that God is whiling away
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: his time busy with other things during the period of
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: no involvement. God is at work. That's the beauty of
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: his invisibility. Not only is he invincible, he is invisible.
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: He can be moving in a thousand places at the
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: same time, working in circumstances that are beyond our control.
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: You see, during a waiting.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: Period, God is not only working in our hearts, He's
• 13:40
  Speaker 3: working in the hearts of other people. And all the
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: while he is giving added strength hold your place here
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: at Esther chapter five, and turn ahead to Isaiah forty,
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: verse thirty one. For some of you, it is a
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: favorite verse of scripture. Others, I am convinced have never
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: seen it. Let me introduce it to you. If you
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: have not. Isaiah forty thirty one. Those who wait for
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount up
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired.
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: They will walk and not become weary. Even though Isaiah's
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: pen put this on the manuscript centuries ago, that verse
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: of scripture is as pertinent and relevant as what you
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: read in the paper this morning, and far more trustworthy.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: Let me point out, if you like to mark certain
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: things in your Bibles from this verse. Four things that
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: happen when we wait. First, we gain new strength. Second,
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: we get a better perspective. He says, we will.
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: Mount up with wings like eagles.
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: Eagles can spot fish in a lake three four miles
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: away on a clear day.
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: By soaring like eagles.
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: While waiting, we gain perspective on what we have been
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: dealing with. We wait, we gain perspective. We get new strength. Third,
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: we store up extra energy. We will run and not
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: get tired. Notice its future tense. When we do encounter
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: the thing we have been dreading, we will encounter it
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: with new strength. There will be extra energy. We'll run
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: and not get tired. Fourth, we will deepen our determination
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: to persevere. We will walk and not become weary. We'll
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: deepen our determination to persevere, will gain new strength, We'll
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: get better perspective, will store up extra energy, will deepen
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: our determination to see. That's what happens when you wait.
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: And you know what, during the period of waiting, nothing
• 16:05
  Speaker 3: is happening, nothing visible.
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: You could easily teach your or tell yourself.
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: At the time, nothing is going to change. I am
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: waiting in vain. It's not going to change. Don't you
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: believe it. That's one of those times you can't believe
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: the enemy's message that's coming into your mind. In fact,
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: look down at forty one to ten, still in Isaiah
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: forty one ten, Do not fear, for I am with you.
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: Do not anxiously look about you. That's what we do
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: when we wait. If our eyes are on the Lord,
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: do not anxiously look about you. I am your God.
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: I will strengthen you, Surely, I will help you. Surely,
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: I will uphold you. With my righteous hand verse thirteen.
• 16:50
  Speaker 3: For I am the Lord, your God, who upholds your
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: right hand, who says to you, do not fear, I
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: will help you. See it's those kind of thoughts that
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: Esther poured over when she was waiting for three days.
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: Mordecai followed, look back at Esther fourth seventeen. Mordecai did
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: just as Esther had commanded, because now the roles are reversed.
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: He's no longer in charge. She is, or better still,
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: the Lord.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: Is, and the Lord has her heart, and she is
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: now unafraid of what she's going to be facing. It
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: is a silent yet powerful interlude in the time of
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: the queen's life. And may I pause and say, this
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: may be one of those times in your life.
• 17:36
  Speaker 4: You see.
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: God hasn't recorded Esther chapter four in chapter five for
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: us to learn a little Persian history. God has recorded
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: this book for us to apply it on a daily basis.
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: Maybe it's time for you to fast, and for you
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: to call upon a few close friends to fast with you.
• 17:56
  Speaker 4: Maybe it's time for.
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: You to say, I'm not going to get involved in
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: this unpredictable and unprecedented situation. I don't know my way through.
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: I can't find the path to walk, So I'm going
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: to wait. In the meantime, I'm going to give it
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: to God. I'm going to listen with a sensitive ear.
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: I'm gonna watch with a sensitive eye. Remember the psalmnst
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: words for this, shall everyone that is godly pray unto THEE.
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: In a time when Thou mayst be found surely in.
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: The floods of great waters, they shall not come nigh
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: to him. The Psalmist says, Thou art my hiding place.
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: Thou shalt preserve me from trouble. Thou has accompass me
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: about with songs of deliverance and god answers. I will
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: instruct thee and teach THEE in the way which thou
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye. I
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: will guide thee with mine eye. You hear that the
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: eye makes no sound when it moves. It requires a
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: sensitive eye to watch the movement of God directions. And
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: all he may do is turn your attention in another direction.
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: And that's all you may need. When you wait, you listen,
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: you pour over a passage of His word that you love.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: You quietly give attention to His presence and to his direction.
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: That's what happens in between these two chapters. You're going
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: to love Esther's approach as she steps into the presence
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: of the king. Your Bible has now open to Esther
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: chapter five. You will find her introducing a calm, yet
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: very wise plan.
• 19:42
  Speaker 4: Now comes the moment of truth. The three days are over.
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: She doesn't know if she's going to live through the
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: first glance of the king.
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: Watch closely.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: Came about on the third day that Esther put on
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: her royal robes and stood in the inner court of
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: the King's palace in front of the ca king's rooms,
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: and the King was sitting on his royal throne in
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. And
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: it happened when the King saw Esther, the Queen, standing
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: in the court, she obtained favor in his sight.
• 20:16
  Speaker 4: Now look at that.
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: She had no idea what would happen when she stepped
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: into the courtroom of the king. She found favor in
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: the King's sight. Put in the margin of your bible.
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: If you have a penhandy Proverbs sixteen seven, just trust me.
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: Proverbs sixteen seven. When a man's ways pleased the Lord,
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him,
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: which you love.
• 20:44
  Speaker 4: That verse, when my ways please the Lord.
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: God honors that by doing something in the heart of
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: my enemy, and in some period of time, and I
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: don't know how long he changes his heart toward me.
• 21:04
  Speaker 3: You might also put Proverbs twenty one one. The heart
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: of the king, in the hand of the Lord is
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: like water. No king has ever made God sit up straight.
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: God is not intimidated, no matter how powerful the authority.
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: God is not chagrined. In the presence of your enemy.
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: He can handle him. He can even handle your husband.
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: He can handle your wife, he can handle your kids.
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: He can handle your pastor he can handle the person
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: that gives you grief, your ex mate, that person who
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: made you all those promises and then went bad on him.
• 21:53
  Speaker 3: He can handle the most intimidating situation, because in the
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: hand of the Lord, any heart is like water. Look
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: at this woman. She walks in She's not trembling, She's
• 22:04
  Speaker 3: confident in God. And when the King saw esther standing
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: in the court, she not only obtained favor in his sight,
• 22:13
  Speaker 3: he extended to esther the golden scepter. Remember she mentioned
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: this in chapter four earlier, when she was telling Mordecai.
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: She wasn't sure she could follow through, and now confident,
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: the king extends the scepter and she touches the top
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: of the scepter, which is making a connection with the king,
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: and look at his response. The king said to her,
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: what is troubling you?
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: Queen Esther? I love that.
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: I mean, she didn't know what to expect. And he
• 22:46
  Speaker 3: says to her, what's on your mind? What's troubling you?
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: In fact, he goes further, what is it that you request?
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: What's your request? Even to half the kingdom, it will
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: be given to you. Not only does she find favor,
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: he says, what do you want? Name it?
• 23:06
  Speaker 4: It's yours.
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: Now. This is her moment to rip on Hayman, but
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: she doesn't. She could have said, I'm glad you asked.
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: I've got a list of complaints you will never believe.
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: She doesn't even tell him what's troubling her. This is
• 23:24
  Speaker 3: a wise woman. She isn't in a hurry. You know
• 23:29
  Speaker 3: why she has been waiting on the lord. You get
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: in a hurry. When you don't wait on the lord, you.
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: Do rash things. You operate from your.
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: Hip pocket, you shoot off the top of your head,
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: you run off at the mouth, you say things you
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: wish to goodness you hadn't said a day or two later.
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: But when you wait on the Lord, he's got a
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: hold of your spirit. He's got you under his control.
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: And look at her response. This is beautiful. Esther said,
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: if it pleased the King, may the King and Hayman
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: come this day to the banquet that I have prepared
• 24:14
  Speaker 3: for him. Is that incredible? You say, what are you
• 24:19
  Speaker 3: laughing at? Well, when in the world did she prepare
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: the banquet? I thought she's been fasting. Well, she's been
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: preparing the banquet while she was fasting. That represents enormous control.
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: If you have ever dieted, you know what I'm talking about.
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: Here is a woman for three days has been working
• 24:38
  Speaker 3: with her maidens on this fabulous bank which she's going
• 24:41
  Speaker 3: to serve her husband, the King, and her enemy Hayman.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: Waiting on the Lord doesn't mean withdrawing from life. It
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: means staying fully engaged while trusting him completely. That's exactly
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: what Esther modeled, and it's a lesson we all can
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: learn from. To go deeper into Esther's story, Insight for
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: Living has prepared several resources to guide you in your
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: personal studies. Each one will equip you to go deeper
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: into the story of this woman of remarkable strength and dignity.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: For example, our Searching the Scripture's Bible Study workbook lets
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: you move from hearing the story to working through the
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: text at your own pace with probing questions and guided reflection.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: It's spiral bound and opens completely flat, so it rests
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: right alongside your Bible, and there's plenty of room for
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: your personal notes and observations because your response to God's
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: word is part of the story too. Many of our
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: listeners are using this Bible Study workbook as a guide
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: in their small groups, and it's great for classroom settings
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: as well. To purchase the Searching the Scripture's Bible Study
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: Workbook for Esther, visit insight dot org. Slash Offers and
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: Nehemiah two very different leaders, two very similar callings. Both
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: were ordinary people handed an extraordinary moment. God used Esther
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: to save a nation. God used Neemaiyah to rebuild one.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: And while our current series has been focused on Esther's
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: remarkable story, Chucks Wendall has spent a lifetime studying leaders
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: like these and drawing out the principles that never go
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: out of style. His classic book, hand Me Another Brick
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: takes Neemiah's experience brick by brick and turns it into
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: a practical guide for anyone who leads anything. We'd love
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: to send it to you as a thank you for
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: supporting this ministry. To send your contribution and request for
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: the book in the mail, write to us at Insight
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: for Living, Post Office box five thousand, Frisco, Texas, seven
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: five three four. Again, Chuck's book on Neemayah is called
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: Hand Me Another Brick, and our number again is eight
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: hundred seven seven to two eighty eight eighty eight. Or
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: visit Insight dot org slash donate him Bill Meyer join
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: us when Chuckswindall continues to tell the fascinating story of
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: Esther Friday on Insight for Living. The preceding message Ester's
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: Finest Hour was copyrighted in nineteen eighty nine, nineteen ninety
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: nineteen ninety seven, two thousand and five, twenty eighteen, and
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six, and the sound recording was copyrighted in
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six by Charles R. Swindall Incorporated. All rights
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: are reserved worldwide Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: is strictly prohibited.