Lesson 4: The Book of Esther - Endurance

Hello Ladies,

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!" (Psalms 34:8)

I can still see my 4'11" grandmother, hopping up and down in her communion service robe, as she yelped that very scripture from the back of our very small, family oriented church.  It was over twenty years ago since I have had that experience, but it feels like yesterday. 

I have been consciously walking with Christ since I was 10 years old, but my grandmother's enthusiasm for her relationship with Him did not become real for me until my first year of college.  

However, the practice of her endurance through her spiritual walk has impacted my perspective on life as a whole.  She was on her divine assignment and I am just one of the fruits of that labor.  

I pray that things are well with all of you.  Last week we discussed walking in our divine assignment. Everyday we live and submit ourselves to God; we are exhibiting the evidence of God's divine assignment for all of us.  As we strive to walk closer to the Lord and go deeper in His word, we are challenged to maintain His principles and exhibit Godly behavior at all times.  Being a light in the mist of darkness is part of our divine assignment (2 Corinthians 4:6).

I hope that you were able to spend quality time with the Lord that He may reveal your overall divine assignment that is specific to your life.  I have spent a large portion of my life floundering in my fleshly desires; running away from the gift that was given to me at 10 years old.  I maintained a relationship with Christ in my floundering, but I was blinded by the stale stench of what I considered a Christian life should be. I was like a zombie, not fully connected and engaged in my life or my relationship with Christ.  I had never stopped to ask myself why I was doing the things that I was doing.  This is a very important question for growth.

Finally, God challenged me through life experiences to seek Him.  Now I seek Him because I want to have relationship with Him.  I want to know Him, not because I just want Him to save me from my own mess.  I have a better appreciation for my grandmother's passion towards that verse.  I better understand why she could not control her excitement when thinking about just having a small morsel of Christ. 

This brings me to this week's lesson, endurance.  What is required to endure? 

Resources
Chapter 4

When Mordecai learned all that had happened, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city. He cried out with a loud and bitter cry. ² He went as far as the front of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. ³ And in every province where the king’s command and decree arrived, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
⁴ So Esther’s maids and eunuchs came and told her, and the queen was deeply distressed. Then she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and take his sackcloth away from him, but he would not accept them. ⁵ Then Esther called Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs whom he had appointed to attend her, and she gave him a command concerning Mordecai, to learn what and why this was. ⁶ So Hathach went out to Mordecai in the city square that was in front of the king’s gate. ⁷ And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries to destroy the Jews. ⁸ He also gave him a copy of the written decree for their destruction, which was given at Shushan, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her, and that he might command her to go in to the king to make supplication to him and plead before him for her people. ⁹ So Hathach returned and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai: ¹¹ “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.” ¹² So they told Mordecai Esther’s words.
¹³ And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴ For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
¹⁵ Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”
¹⁷ So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him.

Endurance - the power to withstand hardship or stress; a state of surviving; remaining alive.

Lesson

We see a form casting a shadow across the scene of sorrow and mourning (Mears 1999).  Mordecai is filled with sorrow at the news of Haman's plan to eliminate the Jews.  However, it does not deter Mordecai from his and Esther's divine assignment.  This plot by Haman only initiates Mordecai's endurance that reveals he and Esther's divine assignment. 

Haman's plan is actually the key to unlock the purpose of Esther acquiring the position with King Ahasuerus.  As Haman plots to manipulate King Ahasuerus, in order to eliminate Mordecai, God allows His glory to be shown through the endurance and faithfulness of Mordecai and Esther.

Endurance, requires a fight to the end.  God is requiring us to operate in a level of faith that ignores our surroundings and ignites the passion to complete the task (Habakkuk 3:17-19).

It is a test of our faith when situations of authority challenges our walk.  We must operate in steadfastness (1 Corinthians 15:58).  We must honor God's faithfulness through endurance (Daniel 6:26).

Mordecai avowed his relation to the Jews (Nelson 1997).  Though Mordecai expressed acts of grief due to the possibility of his people being annihilated, he did not give up.  Mordecai knew that Esther's position was necessary for such a time as this one.  God allows disruption to show His glory.

We have to operate with the mindset that God has already resolved the conflict or struggle for our good and His glory.  We must endure to the end, in faith, trusting that God's will is in our best interest (Jeremiah 29:11). 

How can we walk around assuming our outcome is the best outcome?  We have sometimes acquired the resolution within ourselves and submit our instructions unto God in our prayers.  God does not need our help!  We need His!  We need Him to endure to the end! (Exodus 18:23)

I wonder where I would be if my grandmother had chosen not to endure?  She imparted a steadfastness into every generation that followed (Psalms 78:6-7).

Endurance is about so much more than our own survival.  We are responsible for spreading the gospel of Christ to nations, generations, and generations of nations. (1 Timothy 4:12-16).  The Jews' future existence was contingent on Mordecai and Esther's endurance through this challenging period.  Based on the scriptures, the situation looked bleak.  However, Mordecai held to God's promises and sought out means of endurance.  When Christians are disposed to consult their own ease or safety, rather than the public good, they should be blamed; for we may always come boldly to the throne of grace, and may be sure of an answer of peace to the prayer of faith (Nelson 1997). 

We have an obligation to Christ to endure to the end.  We should, every one, consider for what end God has put us in a place where we are, and study to answer that end; and take care that we do not let it slip (Nelson 1997). 

The ultimate question is where would we be if Christ had not endured to the end? To the cross?

Application

For this week's lesson there is no immediate result to this application.  Endurance is measured over long periods of time and sometimes we are not privy to see the results.  Moses carried the Israelites to the promise land but was unable to experience the glorious triumph.  Nevertheless, we are to focus on endurance through the journey and not the outcome.  God's glory is in every part; enduring to the end. 

I would ask that this week we assess what we are willing to endure for our own personal gain.  We need to evaluate if we are willing to exhibit that same endurance for God's purpose.

I am a runner and I know that if I push myself to run at a faster pace for a longer distance, I will see results in my physical body.  This activity of endurance brings about tangible results that I can possibly see within a week.  Therefore, I am more apt to perform this activity of endurance.

However, will we practice endurance when I children struggle to learn something, when our husbands are operating in their flaws, when our job does not recognize our work, and/or when we feel God is not operating in our time line?  These are all activities of endurance that may not provide immediate results.

My grandmother never lived to see me apply all of the biblical principles that she impressed upon me by living a life of Godly endurance.  She never knew if she would live long enough to see it happen.  That never stopped her from living a Godly life of endurance.

Closing

I hope that you are blessed by this lesson.  I pray that you will find time to commune with the Lord this week in order to ease your journey of endurance.  The only true way to endure is in Christ Jesus.

Have a blessed week!

Be blessed,

T. Carter

References

All scripture references were extracted from The Bible - New King James Version. BibleGateway.com (2013).

Mears, Henrietta (1999).  What the Bible is All About. Regal Books Publishing.  Ventura, California

Nelson, Thomas (1997).  Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible.  Thomas Nelson Publishing.  Nashville, Tennessee.

Nelson, Thomas (1997).  The New Strong's Concise Concordance.  Thomas Nelson Publishing.  Nashville, Tennessee.