After Esther and all the Jews in Susa had fasted for three days, the day came where she entered and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace. It probably was a tightrope walking moment for Esther as she came before King Ahasuerus without a formal invitation from him. Her fate was at the mercy of the king since it was death penalty to enter into the inner court without being called.

If this was shot in movie, this might be a nail biting scene as you await in anticipation as the female lead entered the inner court. What is going to happen to Esther. Will the king reach his golden scepter to pardon her life or will she be struck down immediately on the spot because of her insubordination. The last time we heard of a queen who disobeyed the laws of the land was in chapter one where Queen Vashti disobeyed the king and was being condemned by him. What is going to happen to Esther?!

You can probably hear this deep sigh of relief when the King raised his scepter and Esther approached to touch the tip of the scepter. The King favoured Esther greatly and two times in this chapter, the king told Esther that he was willing to accede to a request from Esther that was as great as giving half of his kingdom to her. Esther found great favour with the king. Esther exhibited humility, wisdom and selflessness in her interaction with the king.

On the other hand, Haman represented pride, arrogance and self-centredness. He boasted of his wealth, position and exclusive invitation to the queen’s banquet. (Esther 5:11-12) Yet, even after receiving all these wonderful things, he was not satisfied because of a single man, Mordecai’s insubordination to him. Haman remarked in verse 13:

“Yet all this is worth nothing to me,

so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.”

The presence of a man who had done nothing atrocious to Haman could lead to such a sense of discontentment. His hatred and ego consumed him so much so that it led him to build a gallow with the intention of hanging Mordecai on it. We know that ultimately, his evil intention led to his own death on the same instrument he built for Mordecai.

Here we see a contrast of postures between two person, Esther and Haman, one with a posture of humility to trust God and another with a posture of pride and self-centredness. Proverbs 18:12 reminds us that “Before destruction a man's heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor” and this is reflected in the outcome of these two lives.

Dear brothers, it is a biblical principle we must uphold dearly to humble ourselves and trust the Lord as if our lives depends on it. Life stems from our surrender and submission to God than to trust in our own hands and works. The danger about pride and self-centredness is that it is a master of disguise. It has the ability to convince the self that our pride and self-centredness actions are for good and self-preserving purposes. It is therefore important to build a system of accountability, where we are ready to examine our actions with biblical yardsticks as well as having a group of godly friends who you give permission to remind and rebuke you if one were to go wayward. May our posture continue to remain humble before our King and Lord, Jesus Christ!

Pray: Dear God, our hearts are so prone to wondering and towards selfish ambitions and desires. Lord would you search our hearts every time it becomes restless in our pursuit of our own desires and pleasures. Would you continue to keep us in a posture of humility so that our hearts are soft to be drawn and tuned to you. Help us dear Lord. In Jesus’s name we pray, amen.