First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge

"So we will always be with the Lord." How do you feel about that? How do you feel about being gathered from wherever you are to meet the Lord in his triumphant return? How do you feel about being in his presence always? Do you long to be gathered in his arms? Do you thrill to seeing all things ordered and arranged around the rule of our King Jesus? Are you eager for him to return to set all things right? How do you feel that Paul says, “we,” not “I,” will be with the Lord? Not the “we” of just my favorites, but the we of all who are joined to Jesus, the whole church universal. Does this vision attract you or repel you? Do you trust Jesus to set all things as they should be? Do you long to be with him? This reality calls to you. The fact of his return gave the Scots Presbyterians courage to face every enemy, to recreate a nation. It inspired them to holiness and to hope. Are you with them?

• In this chapter we finally see Esther make her big ask to have mercy on the Jews and revoke the decree, which was very risky because 1) The king is fickle 2) It required her to reveal her identity as a Jew 3) It would cost the king 10,000 talents 4) It was an irrevocable decree! But, as Ecclesiastes 3: 7 says, "There's a time to be silent, and a time to speak."
• Take notice of Esther's choice of words in verses 13-14, not just what she chooses to say, but how she says it. It was very courageous, personal, and king-centered, and she was careful not to place any blame on the king himself (even though he was ultimately responsible!)
• Consider all the ironies in this chapter: Haman, who had sought to take Esther's life, now begs that she spare his. Haman dies the humiliating death he plotted for Mordecai just 24 hours before. Haman, who wanted to kill a Jew for not falling down before him was ultimately executed on a charge of falling down inappropriately before a Jew!
• Consider the interplay in this chapter between God's sovereignty and human responsibility. God's sovereignty is worked out as Esther climatically confronts the king. However, he worked out his sovereignty through her actions. She wasn’t a passive participant in his plans. She had responsibility, she had to have the resolve, the boldness, the courage to confront the king and make this big ask.
• In God's economy, what is high will be humbled and what is low will be exalted. Read Luke 14: 7-11.

Do you want the vision of possessing your body in dignity and holiness, in clean forgiveness and integrity? Do you want the vision of living quietly, working for a living and living within your means? Reach out to Christ Jesus. Confess your sin and ask forgiveness: he will restore you. Offer your life to him to live a different way. He will lead you. Call one of your pastors or church leaders. Let’s talk it through. Let’s rejoin the community of abounding love that bears witness to the God of overflowing grace and new beginnings.

• We see God's providence at work in this chapter through Insomnia (vs. 1-2), Investigation (vs. 3-4), Interruption (vs. 5), Irony (vs. 6-9) and Invitation (vs. 10-14).
• When God seems most invisible, that's when he's most at work!
• Have you ever felt like some of the good things you've done go unnoticed or unrecognized? There is good news in Hebrews 6: 10. God sees us!
• Haman thought his timing was perfect. But he was actually too late. God's timing is always perfect.
• There are great paradoxes in this chapter: Shame vs. Honor, Impulsiveness vs. Resolve, Exaltation vs. Humility. This is a chapter of great reversals! If there's someone on the rise, we can be sure someone else is about to fall!
• Haman and the king both thought they were in control, when in reality, neither of them were. God was! Can you think of a time when you thought you were in control but clearly weren't?
• God's conviction and power even works through pagan people - like with Zeresh and Haman's family, who foreshadows that Haman would fall before Mordecai.
• When we steal honor that belongs only to the Lord, we end up shamed. And we want to honor ourselves, but he's promised us that what is low will be made high. He exalts us out of our humility! John 3: 30!

How does someone else's faith and love for Christ make us live for him? To help new believers grow in their faith, we must consistently pray for their spiritual growth.

• Esther 5 has been called the Tale of Two Plans. The first half walks us through Esther’s plan with the king. The second half details Haman’s plan with Mordecai. What differences do you notice in each plans approach? How can we be certain we’re discerning God’s plan for our lives from his Word rather than devising our OWN plans void of him?
• The king’s first wife, Queen Vashti, risked her life by not appearing before the king when summoned; now Esther risked her life by appearing before the king unsummoned!
• Esther more fully assumes the dignity and power of her royal position as queen AFTER she decides to align herself with God’s people, after she decides that it’s her Jewish identity that will define her.
• Esther’s plan highlights the importance of showing restraint and resolve, and of listening to and trusting in God’s timing. There are times when we need to “dare to be a Daniel,” to be more direct and bolder. But there are also times when a more indirect, subtle approach is appropriate . . . and will yield greater results. God will equip us with faith to participate in his plan and to seek discernment concerning whether to “dare to be a Daniel” or to show restraint like Esther. We can rely on him and trust him to lead us and guide us appropriately.
• How amazing that God invites us to come into his presence regularly, frequently, and make known to him our petitions and requests . . . that he delights in our presence.
• When we make worldly things (like our own egos) our idols and then feed those idols instead of starving them, we end up emptier than ever, in even greater bondage than before! When we make idols of worldly things, it consumes us and robs us of our true joy found only in the Lord. Reflection: In what ways do you feed your idolatry rather than starving it?
• When our idols are being threatened (or when we feed our idols rather than starve them), we’re most at risk for our emotions to become very disproportionate to whatever offended us. “The identity of our idols is most easily exposed by analyzing our strongest emotions. What is it that causes you to be angry out of all proportion to the offense? The answer is a clue that one of our idols is being threatened.” Iain Duguid

Paul’s passion for his Thessalonians has raised some important questions for us. Have we accounted for the reality of the Evil One as we conduct our lives? What are we planning to offer before the Throne of Christ? And are we living with real gospel expectations of what life in the world for Christ’s people will be like? Right answers to these questions directly open us to abundant joy, a vivid life, full of love and hope that does not disappoint.

Favorite Takeaways:
• How do you relate to Esther’s first response to Mordecai’s request?
• Reflection: How does it impact you to know that you, like Esther, were created for “such a time as this?”
“And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place (Acts 17: 26).”
• Reflection: Describe a time when God has moved in your heart to action, when you were faced with something you didn’t want to do, but you weren’t able to deny his nudging.
• “We have a natural proneness for seeing the difficulties rather than anticipating what GOD can do. We tend to set our gaze on our deficiencies rather than God’s sufficient grace and love. We focus on our human limitations rather than God’s limitless power.” Ian Duguid
• Ian Duguid also says, “Isn’t it a shame when God has to work AROUND us instead of THROUGH us?” God really wanted to work THROUGH Esther, so he placed her where she was, in this position, at this time. God is no less intentional with our lives than he was with hers.
• “The safest place you’ll ever be is in the will of the God.” HB Charles Jr.
• Reflection: What opportunities have you missed out on to participate in God’s work because you were scared or uncomfortable or because the stakes seemed too high?
• God will equip us with the faith to trust him, and to act if it’s his will for us to do so, he will equip us to participate in the work he has called us to, even when we don’t know how it will turn out or what the end result will be.
• Esther’s story is a beautiful foreshadowing of a much bigger sacrifice that would come centuries later, when we get to another man who found himself in a place and position “for such a time as this.” John 12:27-28: “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose, I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” Jesus came at this hour, at this time, to submit to His Father’s will, to intercede for us, to be obedient to the point death on a cross, saving us once for all. God couldn’t work around Jesus, he HAD to work through him. God didn’t have to equip him with the faith to participate in this plan… because it was HIS plan too.