Day 28 | Esther

Read Esther 4:1-17

In his providence, God chose one nation from which the Messiah would come and bring redemption to the world: the Jewish nation. It’s no surprise that the enemy attempted, time and time again, to wipe out this nation—hoping to stop the arrival of the promised Messiah.

The story of Esther is a glimpse into one of these destruction plots. Esther was an orphan girl living in the pagan land of Susa. She was raised by her cousin Mordecai. After an unusual turn of events, Esther was crowned Queen of Persia. Though Esther was given one big title, she had one equally big secret: she was a Jew. Now, the king had a favored advisor named Haman who, not-so-secretly, hated the Jews, and he convinced the king to annihilate the whole people group. Mordecai noticed an opportunity for Esther to partner with God for deliverance. He pleaded with her to approach the king on behalf of her people. Esther knew her task required a posture of complete dependence, so she implored the Jews to fast and pray—to intercede before God for protection. God gives us the opportunity to be used as his vessels, but we can only do that if we are anchored to Him through relationship. Relationship comes through spiritual discipline.

Fasting is a spiritual discipline where we abstain from food for a time in order to seek the Lord and reorient our focus back on Him. When we feel the hunger pang, we are reminded to pray over the issue that requires intercession. Fasting demonstrates our humility and admission that he is God and we are not. This expression of dependence pleases the Lord and shows that we trust in our all-knowing, all-powerful, covenantkeeping God. Interestingly enough, the book of Esther never makes mention of God’s name, but his fingerprints are all over the story. We see God provide redemption for His people through the providential placing of Esther in her royal position “For such a time as this.”

Pray for 10 minutes