Corona Devo 1185

Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: (16) “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” (17) So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him. ~Esther 4:15-17

Esther (and all the Jews in her area) fasted for three full days.  What would be the (obvious) result of this?

Emptiness.  She became empty of food.  She became empty of waste.  She became empty of self. 

(I do not know much about spiritual fasting, but the main idea is to empty ourselves of anything and everything (physical/emotional/spiritual) that is keeping us from God, and to hunger solely for Him.  And then He can meet us in unobstructed ways, because we have cleared the way for Him to do so.)

Esther was seeking God's will and favor and she rid herself of all else.  Denied herself the pleasure of all else.  When was the last time we did that?  

When was the last time we denied ourselves pleasure of any kind--even one more cookie, one more episode, one more purchase…. So that we might instead choose God.  Choose to seek His face instead. Choose to be filled with His Word instead. Choose to be led by Him rather than to live our way for another day. 

Have we ever tried fasting?  Fasting from the world, from media, from schedule, from our wants... and feasting on God alone?

Have we tried it lately? 

Should we? 

The results will be real.  Noticeable.  God's will… not ours.  Faith-changing.  Possibly life-changing for us and others.  

Have we tried emptying ourselves of ourselves?  

Esther did. Her dilemma was impending death for all of the Jewish people in her city and surroundings, and that included her.  But unlike every other Jew, Esther had the ear of the king (she was queen!).

Approaching him without his request could mean her death, but she fasted and prayed and trusted the rest to God.

The results were (frankly) better than Esther could have imagined--because they were God's results, not hers. Esther had emptied herself of her desires and had hungered for God's desires, His leading, His will and His results.

God will always meet us.  In Esther's case, there was one very high ranking government man (Haman) that hated Esther's cousin Mordecai (a good and godly man), with a passion.  Haman had gone so far (earlier that day) to set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall so that in the morning he could ask the king to impale Mordecai on it (Esther 6:14).

But because Esther had fasted, Haman never got the chance, and Mordecai never got impaled.  

Haman had also orchestrated and determined the date of the slaughter of all the Jewish people, including Esther.

But Esther fasted and emptied herself of self, and (on behalf of God's people), Esther came before the king, (herself a Jew), and speaking on behalf of the Jews. 

God gave her confidence. God gave her savvy.  God gave her life.  And God gave her victory. 

(Watch for the conversation to be "set-up" perfectly.  Watch for Haman to do nothing wrong, but for it to appear as if he has.  Watch for the irony of Haman's demise and the salvation of God's people to come together in one perfectly-orchestrated conversation because Esther, Mordecai, and all the Jews of Susa (Esther 4:15) fasted, prayed, and emptied themselves so that they could be filled with God.)

So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet. (2) ...the king again said to Esther, “Tell me what you want, Queen Esther. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!”  

(3) Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared. (4) For my people and I have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us. If we had merely been sold as slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would be too trivial a matter to warrant disturbing the king.”  

(5) “Who would do such a thing?” King Xerxes demanded. “Who would be so presumptuous as to touch you?”  

(6) Esther replied, “This wicked Haman is our adversary and our enemy.” Haman grew pale with fright before the king and queen. (7) Then the king jumped to his feet in a rage and went out into the palace garden.  

Haman, however, stayed behind to plead for his life with Queen Esther, for he knew that the king intended to kill him. (8) In despair he fell on the couch where Queen Esther was reclining, just as the king was returning from the palace garden.  

The king exclaimed, “Will he even assault the queen right here in the palace, before my very eyes?” And as soon as the king spoke, his attendants covered Haman’s face, signaling his doom.  

(9) Then..one of the king’s eunuchs, said, “Haman has set up a sharpened pole that stands seventy-five feet tall in his own courtyard. He intended to use it to impale Mordecai, the man who saved the king from assassination.”  

“Then impale Haman on it!” the king ordered. (10) So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.  ~Esther 6:1-10

~~~

Before this exchange, all that Esther knew was that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter (Esther 4:11).

She risked death, and all of her people (the Jews) were facing it in a few months--but she chose to empty herself.  She chose to seek God whole-heartedly.

She fasted, and God met her.

~~~

Have we ever tried fasting?  Fasting from the world, from media, from schedule, from our wants... and feasting on God alone?  

The results will be real.  Noticeable.  God's will… not ours.  Faith-changing.  Possibly life-changing for us and others.  

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com