Waiting on God’s timing is challenging because it requires great trust in the Lord. It can be frustrating when you are in a hurry, but God seems to be taking his time. Perhaps you are waiting on God’s timing now for answered prayer. While we are waiting, the Lord works out many things. The Lord may give you hopes and dreams of what He wants to do in your life, but He doesn’t give you specific timing.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.[1] Not knowing God’s timing keeps us looking to Him, helping us grow in faith, patience, and dependence.
Esther and Her Maids Fast
Haman, an evil official in the Persian government, was determined to destroy the Jews throughout the empire, and King Xerxes approved it. Before this, in God’s timing, Esther was made queen. King Xerxes was unaware that Esther was a Jew. When the edict went out to destroy the Jews, it brought great weeping and mourning among the Jewish people. Desperate, they began to fast, which probably included intercessory prayer.
Mordecai, a low-level government official, raised Esther after her parents died, and this strongly influenced her life. This influence led Mordecai to ask Esther to go before the king to intercede for their people, but she was reluctant.
Esther 4:14 “Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” 15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.”
17 So Mordecai went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him. On the third day of the fast, Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace. 2 When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her. So Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter. [2]
God’s Timing
To go before the king without being summoned risked death, even for the queen. After three days of fasting, the Lord led Esther to go before the king. Esther had turned the timing and her life over to the Lord as she approached the king. We see the providential hand of God as the king welcomed Esther.
Scripture gives wisdom about the importance of waiting on God. Psalm 37: 5 Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. 6 He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. 7 Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. [3]
To learn more about waiting on God’s timing, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/esthers-request
[1-3] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Tyndale House Publishers.