Today’s passage: Esther 5
Helpful thoughts:
- Verses 1 and 2 move quickly, and it’s easy to breeze past them. But in this moment, as Esther waited to be seen, she didn’t know whether she would live or die.
- In preparation for this moment, Esther dressed in her royal attire and had a feast prepared. In her days of prayer and fasting, a plan has been devised to gain favor with the king and to lift Haman up to his own demise.
- Haman’s pride at being honored made Mordecai’s treatment all the more unbearable for him. His number one desire was to be admired and respected, and he was willing to sin in order to get it.
Questions to consider:
- Because Haman was so infatuated with being honored, what did being invited to these feasts do to him? Did these invitations satisfy his desires or did they only increase his demand for more?
- What can we learn from this truth? When we are ruled by our selfish desires, what will we be willing to do in order to get them? Or what will we do if we can’t get them?
- How is Esther’s patience being contrasted with Haman’s impetuousness? How did Esther seek counsel and wisdom before acting (4:16)? What counsel did Haman desire? How can our choice of counsel, guidance and consideration reveal our heart’s desire and who we aim to please even before we choose to act?