Is God at Work in Vegas? Esther. The King’s Favour

Is God at Work in Vegas? Esther Part 5. The Wicked Falter

Read Esther chapter 6

• What stands out to you?
• What observations or questions do you have about the text?
• What might this mean for us?

WatchBible Project article: Esther: Secular or Sacred?

Discuss

The sleepless king asks for his own story to be read back to him, in order to help him sleep, and discovers that Mordecai has not been rewarded, even though the conspirators have been punished long ago.

• Which are easier for you to remember; things you are thankful for or things you are worried about?
• Do you tend to remember a person’s failures or things in their favour most easily?
• Do you tend to draw others into your complaints or your celebration of what people around you are doing?
• If you tend to focus on only the negatives, or only the positives, how might you begin to change this?

Haman delivers an impassioned speech of what is possible to do to honour someone, expecting it will be him. (It includes riding the king’s horse and wearing the king’s robe; to use something the king had used, even temporarily, was considered a sharing in their kingly glory).

• What opportunities do you see for you to be involved in the creative work that God has delegated to us in your role in work or family?
• How are you at sharing the credit or honour for things that are done well – making sure that everyone gets their share of the kudos?
• How might you champion others to receive credit or honour, even when it might take attention away from you?

This chapter contains the great reversal around which the book of Esther hinges. Not everything is dealt with or changed, but the tide is clearly flowing in the opposite direction to the first part of the book. This corresponds to the last chapter of each Gospel and the first chapter of Acts, as the resurrection starts to show the victory of the now-and-not-yet kingdom.

• Where do you see kingdom things happening around you?
• What situations do you see around you that needs God’s touch?
• How are you partnering with God to bring that about?
• Or how can we pray so that you can?

Pray that we can grow in thankfulness and honouring of others, that we can each join in with what God wants to do, and that His kingdom would influence more areas of our lives.

Practise: begin a thankfulness journal – in a form that works for you, write down things that you are thankful for each day, and where possible, let people know that you are thankful for them (especially where you can acknowledge the positive actions of people who you find challenging).