I Guess Things Happen that Way
30 Days in Ruth and Esther - day 18
Little is made of the details of Esther’s upbringing. It is mentioned, but the details are left out. Esther was what we might call an orphan girl. Something happened to her parents. Her mother and father both died. We aren’t told how or why; just that it did.
There is a lot of that in the book of Esther. What I mean is there are many things going on where we are simply told what happened. These are not meant to be examples for us. They are not meant to be read as good and holy things. Vashti’s prideful refusal to do as Ahasuerus asked… Ahasuerus’ prideful response of exiling Vashti… the beauty pageant to pick a new queen… These are what happened.
Esther’s gaining favor with everyone just happened as well. She doesn’t seem to have pursued it in an aggressive or self-assertive way. She humbly does what is asked of her and takes the advice of her cousin Mordecai and Hegai, the king’s eunuch.
She gains the king’s favor as well.
It is what happened.
There is so much that happens in this world that we have no control over. Actually, most of what happens is out of our power to affect one way or the other. Being favored by others… or not. Getting and listening to good advice… or not. Gaining or losing status based on other people’s opinions…
These are things that just happen.
There is an old country song I used to hear when I was a boy. The tag line throughout the song was, “I don’t like it but I guess things happen that way.”
Is the point of Esther that life is just a series of random, meaningless events that either favor or disfavor us?
No, that is not what we are being taught here.
It is just the opposite.
What this story teaches us is that God is in control. He is moving everything to His desired ends. Our lives are in His hands.
Even when things feel like they just happened – it never just happens.