Thursday May 21, 2020

Esther 9:11-19

11 The number of those killed in the citadel of Susa was reported to the king that same day. 12 The king said to Queen Esther, “The Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men and the ten sons of Haman in the citadel of Susa. What have they done in the rest of the king’s provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.”

13 “If it pleases the king,” Esther answered, “give the Jews in Susa permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons be impaled on poles.”

14 So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Susa, and they impaled the ten sons of Haman. 15 The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.

16 Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder. 17 This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

18 The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

19 That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.

Max always wants more chocolate milk. More play time. Depending on what he wants and who hasn’t said no yet, more of mommy or more of daddy. If you could have more of something in your life, what would you choose? God is a God of more. “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). God is generous. He gives us more grace, more strength, more power, more patience, more forgiveness, more mercy. More is not just for us but it’s for us to share with others. Is the more you want, the more God wants you to have? Esther wants more of the same. More suffering and death for their enemies. Or is it more justice she wants? She is Queen over a vast empire. This isn’t simply her personal preference. There is more to the story than we’ll ever know. As much as I want to challenge her request, I’m humbled by all that I don’t know.

We tend to settle for more of the lesser things in life when God wants to give us more of the greater things. There is more God wants to do in our lives. There is more work God wants to accomplish through us but more depends on our willingness to pursue more of God. The manifestation of God’s power is proportional to the measure we give. God could give more despite us. He is able. However, he’s decided to give more when we give more of our lives to him. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). There is more God wants to give you. Don’t settle. Desire more of Him and you’ll see him do more than you ever imagined. There is more. The following verse describes us.

“Healed and forgiven
Look where my chains are now
Death has no hold on me
‘Cause Your grace holds that ground
And Your grace holds me now” (from the song Whole Heart (Hold Me Now) by Hillsong United)

Prayer (on YouTube)

The Lord bless you
And keep you
Make His face shine upon you
And be gracious to you
The Lord turn His
Face toward you
And give you peace

May His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And your family and your children
And their children, and their children

May His presence go before you
And behind you, and beside you
All around you, and within you
He is with you, He is with you

In the morning, in the evening
In your coming, and your going
In your weeping, and rejoicing
He is for you, He is for you