What’s on the “surface” is ONLY the surface

Scripture Read: Esther  4:6-14 So Hathach went out to Mordecai to the city square in front of the king’s gate. ⁷ Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. ⁸ He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict which had been issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show Esther and inform her, and to order her to go in to the king to implore his favor and to plead with him for her people. ⁹ Hathach came back and related Mordecai’s words to Esther. ¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach and ordered him to reply to Mordecai: ¹¹ “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king to the inner court who is not summoned, he has but one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.” ¹² They related Esther’s words to Mordecai. ¹³ Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. ¹⁴ “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”   

Application: This is an incredible section of Your Word Lord. There is so much here that can challenge us. Mordecai had the discernment to see more than just the surface. If he had this in his mind from the beginning we cannot know because the Word does not state it, but it seems apparent that Mordecai had a clear discernment that God must be working in this situation. Knowing he had told Esther not to reveal her identity as a Jew from the time this all began, and now that there was a planned  threat to all the Jews, Mordecai sees the hand of God and challenges Esther to step boldly. He first appeals to You Lord through ash and sackcloth. This shows us that he did not view this as merely a “human” problem. He was seeking Your guidance first. As he informs Esther, she is honest about the dangerous step he is asking of her, but here again he speaks about the bigger picture. He does not view where Esther is as a work of human effort, but looking beyond the surface, he points out that there is a “bigger” idea behind all that has happened to her. Mordecai is our example to try and see more than the obvious, to look “behind” the scenes. So many of us only focus on the surface and miss the deeper truth and lessons that are actually there. One of the keys to not being content by what we think is “obvious” has to do with the pace at which we digest information. The norm today is high efficiency, immediate and quick. When we do the fly~by, we can only skim the surface of the truth. We must exercise our will power to slow down, make ourselves take a breath, step back from the situation and give the Holy Spirit time to illuminate us to the real truth. This takes faith, but the more time we give ourselves to meditate on situations the better we might see Your hand moving in the invisible area of that situation. Father life is rushing at us today, we need Your help to be disciplined enough to put the breaks on so we can see what is really going on. Grant us Your grace Lord

Meditation Questions: Do you pace your life in a way that you have time to contemplate? If so – what do you see your learning? If not – what might you be missing? When you are in a situation do you think what you see is all there is? When was the last time you saw visible evidence of intervention by our invisible Lord?