The story of Esther was told in a new dimension on Sunday at TPH by Mrs Rapu. I was intrigued by the way she explained the story in a way that I had never even thought of before.
King Ahasuerus reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia (Esther 1). He was an extremely wealthy king and his wealth was acknowledged by all. He decided to show off his wealth and possessions. After showing off all he could, he decide to have his wife, the beautiful Queen Vashti parade her beauty in the presence of all his guests which included kings and princes of other kingdoms, principalities and provinces. But as the story goes, Vashti was busy entertaining other women and doing her own thing. She decided to defy the king’s authority and refused to comply with his wishes. This got the king very mad at her and his advisers immediately decided to advise him to have her dethroned and replaced.
Today, we study the story of Esther not from the point of the beautiful and obedient Esther but from that of Vashti, the queen who got comfortable, who relaxed and who forgot that her husband was the king who issues a decree and it gets established or you get punished. Imagine this analogy whereby God is our King Ahasuerus and we are his bride. The world in which we live is the catwalk. He wants us to go around parading our beauty: our obedience to His words, our love for others and generally our beauty. He wants the world to see out behaviours and ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ over how well put together we are, over how good natured we are, over how kind we are, our level of patience, joy, peace, long suffering, meekness, humility, respect, etc.
But do we answer His call? Are we Vashtis, blatantly ignoring the call of our King, busy with life? Are we already too familiar with God, believing God will understand, He is love and His mercies endure forever forgetting that the same Lamb is a Lion and the same Lover of our souls is a Consuming Fire? Have we started taking grace for granted quoting Romans 5:20, ‘20Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound’ whilst totally ignoring what follows shortly in Romans 6:1-‘What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid.’
Have we grown so accustomed to sinning with the plan to ask for forgiveness afterwards? Who do we think we deceive? God cannot be mocked. God cannot be fooled. He knows all. He sees all.
This life is a catwalk. The roads on which we drive are catwalks. Our workplaces are catwalks. Our homes are catwalks. Our relationships are catwalks. We have the opportunity to daily represent God and make Him proud as He points us out: ‘There goes Ijeoma doing my will’, ‘Look at Rita making me proud’, ‘Watch as Damola handles that situation with love’. We need to have this thought on our minds everywhere we go.
But there is a truth I have come to discover: by strength shall no man prevail. Many a time I have listened to a sermon that had me charged in my spirit and then I vow to work hard as ever to be as good as ever. As soon as I wake up and start my day, things fly in my face that absolutely FRUSTRATE me and before I can say Caramel Latte three times, I’m already back to my normal fleshly ways and I get even more frustrated that I could not hold on to my vow for up to 4 waking hours. That was in my days of ignorance, my days of thinking I have the power to do good in me. No I don’t. I need grace. I need strength. And all these, I can only get from God. We need to lean on God and on His ever sufficient grace as we grace the catwalk of life.
That is the irony of walking with God. You don’t do much walking. He practically carries you all the way. You need, however, to realize that you are weak and you need help and you will be surprised at the way He will rush in and help you.
I pray God will carry on strengthening us in this walk so that we do not fall and disgrace the designer…
Have a great day people.
Did I tell you guys I’m a bridesmaid this Saturday?!!! Well, I am going to be a bridesmaid and I wish the lovely couple a great day and more importantly a happy and fulfilling marriage.
Temiville.xoxo
Bee
Aug 25, 2011 @ 13:20:14
Was there as well. It was such great fun at the service but accompanied by a deep message that is so relevant for our world now because Christianity and the church as we see it today has evolved into some kind of fad with no real depth.
I had been to a wednesday service at TWB 2 weeks ago where the Pastor preached about the rapture and end times, it felt very strange cos I had not heard anyone talk about it with such focus since I was a teenager (and that’s a pretty long time ago)
We need to go back to those basics and remind ourselves that a relationship with God is beyond the pop culture that Christianity has become. It’s a narrow path and not quite easy, it takes so much work, so much sacrifice and we have a fierce enemy who just never gives up. Just start with the road as our runway, the number of times we lose it when danfo drivers or okadas do their thing, forgetting to let our light shine. The number of times we forget to show unconditional love to family and friends because well, they’re so familiar.
Totally agree with you that by strength shall no man prevail. Right now, i can’t even boast of any strength to run this race so it’s comforting to know that my strength is not required. The exercise of going to God must not be forgotten however.
Cheers!
softasilk
Aug 26, 2011 @ 01:34:22
Life sure is a catwalk and we need to be mindful so we dont trip; but when we do, dust off and get back right in the game
Ade
Aug 26, 2011 @ 01:48:52
I totally appreciate the analogy and what it teaches. I want to point something out though, that a lot of bible scholars have stated that Ahareseus spelling wrong im sure) was actually asking vashti to appear naked and be paraded, it wasn’t just an ordinary summons and this is why she refused. Ill study the issue more but one must pause and wonder, why would Vashti just randomly refuse the kings summons knowing it could even have cost her very life. There is a part of me that believes that the Lord was making room for Esther in all this.
Im not absolving Vashti oh, maybe she should still have gone and the point of our ignoring the Lord’s call is still very very salient. Enjoy your bridesmaid duties!!
Adeola Adelekun
Aug 26, 2011 @ 09:56:26
All the best with the wedding tomorrow!!!! make sure you catch the bouquet!!!! lol!!!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my blog. Interesting views you had there i must say…….i have replied to your comment. 🙂
Homie GFunk
Aug 26, 2011 @ 14:16:16
Wow.. it’s so funny cause just this morning I was thinking about how witnessing to people is just like when you have a new hairdo that looks really nice and people are admiring it and asking where you got it done. Then you refer them to your hair stylist. That’s how it should be when we witness, we should display God’s goodness in us in such a way that people will admire and ask us where we got it from. Awesome post!
mstizzle
Aug 26, 2011 @ 16:17:06
Lol Temi, you’ve told us about this bridesmaid thing like a hundred times!!! Ok, I exaggerate but still 🙂
Witnessing (verbally) is not easy especially with friends cos they can so easily point at flaws when you slip. I think that’s why people just move with the crowd so no one expects too much from them. You’ll be surprised at how many “closet Christians” there are.
temiville
Sep 09, 2011 @ 08:50:42
hhahahaaaaa!!! @ the bridesmaid gist. still looking for lovely pictures to put up
Myne Whitman
Sep 02, 2011 @ 18:24:50
Been a while, and I’m just checking in to say hi. Have a lovely weekend.
remiroy
Sep 06, 2011 @ 16:11:03
Hmm, Esther, Esther, Esther. Cant get enough of that bible story and i’m always looking for new perspectives. i learn from it every time.
http://www.royremi.blogspot.com
Purpleicious Babe
Sep 10, 2011 @ 00:59:31
I like this story. I pray We all fulfill purpose. Yes, I am a work in progress but that no excuse.. THERE IS GRACE..
http://lifeinstagesdoz.blogspot.com/
plumfotography
Oct 14, 2011 @ 20:39:17
this is indeed true. We all go thru ds road whr we get so busy wv everythng and we thnk God understands. Imagine God duz nt answer ur prayer and he says ‘i knw my daughtr/son understands’, we defnatly wnt lyk dat. I pray God gves us understandng to knw hw to serve hm better…(y)