Wait For God’s Timing!
BRD REFLECTIONS
Esther 5:1-8 and Psalm 66 (NIV)
(Frances Lim, Zone 11 Leader, Small Group Ministry)
READ:
Esther 5:1-8 and Psalm 66 (NIV)
OBSERVE:
As we have noted by now, Esther is a book full of drama and suspense! The stakes are high! In this passage Queen Esther has fasted for 3 days and 3 nights with her maids to seek God’s favour and now she has prepared herself to appear before the King. She knows it’s 50-50. If the King is in a bad mood, he will not extend the gold sceptre to her and she will die. We breathe a sigh of relief as the King sees her and holds out the sceptre and Esther is allowed to speak. What will she say? She has to be very wise with her words in order to ask the King to save the Jewish people from annihilation. She invites the King and her enemy Haman to a banquet! They go at once! Esther must have had all of that pre-planned. During the banquet, Esther is asked again in verse 6, “What is your request?”
Why does she beat about the bush? Would this not be a good time to tell the King everything? Why invite him and Haman to another banquet the next day? Is she afraid? After all the King does not even know she is a Jew.
Moving on to Psalm 66. I imagine that Queen Esther may have sung this to the Lord with her maidens after the good news that she and her people have been allowed to live!
Verse 3-4a – How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. All the earth bows down to you.
Verse 7 – He rules forever by his power, his eyes watch the nations – let not the rebellious rise up against him.
Verse 20 – Praise be to God who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!
APPLY:
As I reflect on this passage, I realised that God was at work and if Esther had spilled the beans at the first banquet, God would not have set the scene. She must have been inspired by the Holy Spirit to wait for God’s timing. In the night that followed, lots of things happened that made the King much more receptive to her suggestions. That is tomorrow’s exciting instalment! Here the lesson for me was to pray and ask God to lead me when I am serving the Lord. If I want to speak about Christ, let me pray first and seek God’s timing. God has His plans and I should not mess them up with my own plans and agenda.
The second lesson was that God is involved with human drama and HE hears our prayers. I sometimes wonder if God is seeing the atrocities being committed in Ukraine or even closer to home in Myanmar or Afghanistan. Reading Psalm 66 reminds me that God does not close an eye. He is hearing prayers and is at work…but in His time!
DO:
Let me pray and discern what the Lord is doing before I make my own plans. Often I rush into doing, thinking that I have no time to pray. Practise waiting for God’s timing and taking time to hear from Him.
Do not let the Devil discourage me that praying for the Lord to act in war torn countries is futile. After all, the Ukrainians are praying and the Bible teaches that God hears the groans and laments of His people. Here we have a wonderful reminder of how God saved the Jews from calamity. He was working His purposes out and Esther was able to be in the right place at the right time to work with Him.
PRAY:
Dear Father God, I praise you for all your mighty deeds! Thank you especially for the gift of the Lord Jesus who gave himself up for me to reconcile me to you. I pray that I would never listen to the words of discouragement from the Devil but always wholeheartedly commit my concerns to you. Please teach me to expect answers to prayers and be patient to wait for your timing…In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!
