Today we are celebrating GEMS Sunday, where our girls’ ministry will be leading many of the parts of our worship. We will reflect on Isaiah 40:28-31, Rise Up! Lessons from Queen Esther. Esther is a fascinating woman in Israel’s history, she goes from being an orphan to becoming the most powerful woman in the empire. Esther is called to put her life on the line for the sake of her people and to fulfill God’s plan to save his people from a powerful threat. Esther responds in trust, with prayer, and using her gifts to save her people
Today we are celebrating GEMS Sunday, where our girls’ ministry will be leading many of the parts of our worship. We will reflect on Isaiah 40:28-31, Rise Up! Lessons from Queen Esther. Esther is a fascinating woman in Israel’s history, she goes from being an orphan to becoming the most powerful woman in the empire. Esther is called to put her life on the line for the sake of her people and to fulfill God’s plan to save his people from a powerful threat. Esther responds in trust, with prayer, and using her gifts to save her people
Rise Up! Lessons from the Life of Esther
Isaiah 40:28-31
Theme: God saves his people through Esther’s faithfulness as he uses Jesus’ faithfulness to save us
Good morning GEMS, thank you so much for leading us in worship this morning! It’s great to have you share about GEMS and some of the things you’ve done and learned about this year. I love your verses and them this year, “Rise Up!” and how you’ve learned about Esther. These verses from Isaiah really help us to understand how God was with Israel and Esther, even though we never hear the name of God talked about in the story.
When I was reading these verses and then listening to you read them just now, it was like Isaiah was whispering a secret to us, saying, “Hey, do you know who God is, he’s amazing! God is the creator of everything and he never gets tired, he’s always full of energy so he’s never too tired to help us out. God is so wise that he knows when we’re really tired and need some energy to keep going, he knows when we start feeling like we’re not strong enough or good enough and he makes us strong enough to keep on going.” Then Isaiah gets really excited and his whisper gets loud, “But you know what, if you trust and hope in the Lord, he’s going to fill you to overflowing with strength and energy again and you’ll be like eagles that fly so high in the sky and can see forever with Jesus at your side!”
Queen Esther understood what Isaiah’s sharing with us here about God. She didn’t understand it right away, but that’s why God puts really wise people in our lives, people, like your parents, your counsellors, teachers at school, and even friends. Esther lost her parents when she was young and her cousin Mordecai took her into his family and raised her. It must have been really hard on Esther to lose her parents while she was so young, and sometimes it’s hard to see how God is with us when things are hard. God was moving in her cousin Mordecai’s heart at the same time, moving him to take Esther into his family and to raise her to know and trust in God. Mordecai taught Esther about who God, that God is someone they can trust and put their hope in, even though they were living in a foreign land and often made slaves. Mordecai was connected to the palace and even hears about a plot to kill the king and he tells the king and saves his life.
So how did Esther, an orphan Jewish girl, become queen in the most powerful empire? To make Esther queen, God worked in the king’s heart so that he got so angry that he made a law that Queen Vashti can never be around him again, so they have a competition to become queen. If the king’s people chose them, they had to become part of the competition. God made them notice Esther and choose her and she won and became the new queen. God is in control and makes his plans happen because he also knows what’s coming and who he wants to use to accomplish his plans. This is why we read the Bible, why we study stories like Esthers, why we go to church and GEMS, so that we’re always ready for when God wants to use us for his plans.
Mordecai knows that there are a lot of people who don’t like the Jews, so he tells her to not tell anyone that she is Jewish. Esther also listens to the advice that Hegai, who helps her get ready for the competition, and because her humbleness and wisdom, she wins the competition and becomes queen in the most powerful empire in the world! Even though Esther’s Jewish, she becomes queen. We hear Isaiah saying, “Remember, God increases the power of the weak.” Our strength comes from God, our heart strength, our mind strength, and even our physical strength all comes from God. Esther must have been excited, scared, and wondering how this could all happen to her. I’ve discovered when things change a lot, it’s a good time to ask God who he wants you to become because he’s always moving in the background, getting you ready to show others who God is, what Jesus has done for you. Talking to other people who love Jesus and who follow him is always wise and helps us figure out what the Holy Spirit might be doing in your life right now. This is why God gave you amazing counsellors, teachers, parents, and other Christians.
Life’s good in the palace, but then an evil man Haman, who hates the Jewish people because Mordecai won’t bow down to him, decides he wants to kill all the Jewish people. All of a sudden, we get a glimpse into how God has been working quietly to protect his people by working in different people’s hearts and lives to make Esther queen right when God’s people need someone to shape the king’s heart and mind to save God’s people. Haman comes to the king and says, “There is a certain people dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom who keep themselves separate. Their customs are different from those of all other people, and they do not obey the king’s laws; it is not in the king’s best interest to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them, and I will give ten thousand talents of silver to the king’s administrators for the royal treasury.” So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews. “Keep the money,” the king said to Haman, “and do with the people as you please.” God’s people are in deadly danger here!
Esther isn’t perfect, but she’s a good example for you as GEMS, and for the rest of us, on how to live set apart in a faithless culture. When Mordecai lets her know what has happened, she’s afraid to go to the king and ask him for help to stop Haman since he gave Haman permission to kill all the Jews. I would be scared too! Esther tells Mordecai that she’s not sure if the king still likes her and if he gets angry when she goes to see him, the king might kill her. Then Mordecai gives her this answer that reminds her, and us, that God’s plans will happen and we need to trust that he has made us the exact people that he needs for his plans at this time, Mordecai says, “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
Isaiah’s words of hope, letting us know who God is, remind us, “He increases the power of the weak.” Esther may feel weak, but God will give her what she needs. It’s like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, asking God if there can be a different way than the cross and then Jesus says, “Not my will, but your be done.” Angels then come and minister to him, giving him the strength needed to save us from our sin by going to the cross and washing away our sins. Just like Jesus went to pray to God, Esther tells Mordecai, “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” Esther goes to God and prays; praying for strength, wisdom, and courage to go to the king to save her people. When we’re in difficult times and we need to act, go to God to pray and ask for strength and wisdom and trust that “those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.” You can stand strong and courageous with God’s help.
Doug Bratt reminds us, “Through Isaiah 40 God reminds us that those who rely on the Lord find that help. God doesn’t always take away our problems. Yet God gives us the strength to deal with them. God helps vulnerable people like us so that we can run and not tire out. God lends us a hand so that we can walk and “not run out of gas.” When you read the rest of Esther’s story you see that God gives her what she needs to change the king’s mind, to show the king Haman’s evil plan and receive protection for her people. God loves his people, he hears our prayers, and he will give us what we need as we follow him as his people and show the world Jesus’ love and grace.