(Esther 7:1-10) Now the king and Haman came to drink wine with Esther the queen. 2 And the king said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine at the banquet, “What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your wish? Up to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” 3 Then Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me as my request, and my people as my wish; 4 for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed, and eliminated. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have kept silent, because the distress would not be sufficient reason to burden the king.” 5 Then King Ahasuerus asked Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would presume to do such a thing?” 6 And Esther said, “A foe and an enemy is this wicked Haman!” Then Haman became terrified before the king and queen.
7 The king then got up in his anger from drinking wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm had been determined against him by the king. 8 Now when the king returned from the palace garden into the place where they had been drinking wine, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he even assault the queen with me in the house?” As the word went out of the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who stood before the king, said, “Indeed, behold, the wooden gallows standing at Haman’s house fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai who spoke good in behalf of the king!” And the king said, “Hang him on it.” 10 So they hanged Haman on the wooden gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Here is a very poignant example of how pride goes before the fall. Haman had been given quite a position of honor and power; but when selfish pride and hate got in his way, he had the means to devise and plot against the people who irked him the most. Without compassion or care for justice, his actions only went from bad to worse. Because of his unchecked feelings and rash decisions, he was greatly humiliated, and his death was poetic justice.
Feelings are something that come as a result of an event or an experience, and therefore, they should never really be used to direct us in decision making. Feelings are not truth. Feelings can be fickle. They come and they go and they change. And sometimes they are even misdirected, because of some misunderstanding. Because of that, it is wise not to react and/or act as soon as we feel something.
For example, when someone makes you angry, if you fly off the handle in rage, this is unacceptable, no matter how bad something is. Good measures to take is to pray about the issue immediately. Then, talk to the person to find out the facts, because you might have misinterpreted something. If it was bad, pray and think through the next steps to reconcile the matter. If it was nothing, you have saved yourself some embarrassment, and saved the other person from being hurt.
Another example is, when you are single and you meet someone, and there are strong feelings (chemistry, sparks, butterflies, whatever you want to call this), stop to pray and think. Ask yourself if this is the person God would want for you? And if so, learn who the person is and if your lives are going in the same direction. Fall in love using your brain, and then enjoy with your heart.
Back when I was single, I had feelings for someone - who was definitely NOT the guy for me. And once I found the guy who was right for me, I told myself that my feelings for him were NOT going to go away. Well, after the honeymoon, I realized that those feelings weren't there anymore. But the feelings had been replaced with comfort and peace, like this was how it had always been and how it will always be. And hey, there were times, I didn't like him... until we sorted out whatever disagreement we had going. Feelings can be all over the place!
When I started singing solos in church, and it was my turn to go up to sing, I suddenly got really nervous. And it struck me - THAT - was the exact same feeling I had when I was dating my husband!!! Soooo... those tingly feelings are actually nerves! In those kind of situations, we can be nervous because we really want to impress someone, or as with the other guy, we can be nervous because we actually sense danger and we should run away.
There is so much I could say on this topic, but to keep this brief, as we can see, we should not rely on feelings. But when we do feel something, assess those feelings to understand why. And when those good ones come out of amazing experiences, like when God works in our heart to change us to be more like Him, enjoy! Remember and cherish those feelings - which are more real than reality! And understand that God's love is not a feeling - but an action! To love people unconditionally - is to decide to love.
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