Esther replied, “My petition
and my request is this: If the king regards me with favor and if it pleases the king to
grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow
to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king’s
question.” Esther 5:7-8
Esther had an opportunity when the
king extended his scepter to tell him right then about how upset she was over
Haman’s edict to kill the Jews. But she
didn’t. Esther set up a banquet with the
king and Haman. Then after that banquet
she set up another banquet. So why
didn’t she confront Haman in front of Xerxes at the first banquet or earlier?
Esther had faith and a sense of
timing. She didn’t rush her
request. What happened in the process
was Xerxes read the royal records and heard about Mordecai’s act of saving the
king, then set up a way to honor Mordecai by having Haman walk him through the
city praising his mortal enemy. Haman
flew into a rage and at the second banquet, assaulted the queen causing Xerxes
to punish him.
Would that have all happened when
Esther first had the king’s ear?
Probably not, but through faith and patience everything worked out much
better. We too need to know when to tap
the brakes and when to hit the accelerator.
Listening to God’s timing always works out better but not always when we
want it to.