After Haman was embarrassed
because he paraded Mordecai through the street as an honor from the
king, he and King Ahasuerus are attending the second banquet of Queen
Esther. In chapter seven and verse two we see a repeat of an earlier
question from the king to Esther the queen where we read:
And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the
banquet of wine, What is your petition, queen Esther? and it
shall be granted you: and what is thy request? and it shall
be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
The verse begins, “And the king said again unto Esther on the
second day at the banquet of wine, What is your
petition, queen Esther?” We learn from this portion of the
verse that this was another “banquet of wine”. As in
chapter five and verse six where Esther's first banquet was held,
this second banquet caused the king to ask Queen Esther what she
desired. Last time he offered her up to half the kingdom should she
desire it, and she only chose that the king and Haman attend this
second banquet. The king knew there was more to her desire than that
request, so he asked her once again to reveal her pleasure.
The verse goes on to say, “ and it shall be granted you: and
what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even
to the half of the kingdom.” King Ahasuerus made another
solicitation for Queen Esther with the guarantee that even if she
were to ask for half the kingdom, her request would be granted. We
see by the king's offer that she was highly favored by him, and the
notable aspect to this second asking is that Esther was wise enough
to continue to draw the king's inquisitiveness until he nearly asked
her to tell him in desperation. In delaying her answer, Queen Esther
actually built a better position in King Ahasuerus to give her what
she desired.
Isn't it
interesting how delay builds greater desire? It seems the more we are
delayed in receiving what we desire, the more we want it. Queen
Esther kept King Ahasuerus in a state of wondering, and his interest
continued to grow. Although Queen Esther could have given him an
answer the first time the king requested it, Esther chose to put him
off just a little. Could it be that our Heavenly Father does this at
times as well? Perhaps we have been asking for something for quite a
while, and it seems that we never receive what we request. Because we
do not receive it, our desire and passion for that request to be
fulfilled grows more and more. Sometimes the process of desiring a
relationship with God is more important than receiving what we think
we should have. In our desires, requests and needs, we often grow
closer to God than any other time. Jesus makes Himself available to
us in our times of need, and part of the process is that we often
need Him more than the request that burns upon our hearts.
Next
time we will begin to see Esther's answer, so read ahead, and we
shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow...there is more...
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation” and the new marriage book “So, You Want
to Be Married” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ;
www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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