ESTHER & JOB

It is Friday morning, and we had the day off because of a school day off and I give the staff the day off as well.  So... I slept in an hour and a half and it was a special treat.  I slept for nine hours!  Spoiled I know, but usually I get seven if I'm lucky.  Here are some insights I would like to share for today: 1) 75 FOOT TALL!  In Esther 5:14, Haman's wife and friends advised him to make a gallows 50 cubits tall to hang Mordecai upon.  50 cubits is the same as 75 feet.  That is a tall gallows seeing that less than 10 feet are required to hang a man.  Why so tall?  The gallows was the height of his pride and hatred.  He was so proud of himself, and so hated Mordecai because he received no reverence from Mordecai.  He became so bitter, it blinded his judgment.  The Bible says:  Hebrews 12:15  "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;"   Bitterness is not only self destructive, it is explosive.... it will hurt anyone close to you!  In Esther 7:10, we find that Haman was hung on his own gallows.  But, it doesn't end there.  In Esther 9:13, Haman's ten sons were hanged upon the same gallows.  Do you think that Haman's wife, Zeresh, would have suggested the gallows be built if she knew her husband and ten sons would be hung upon it?  No, I dare say not.  But... it doesn't end there.  Having stirred up the kingdom against the JEWS, Esther has the order reversed, and now those who hate the Jews are destroyed.  The Bible records that when it is all said and done, 75,311 are killed!  ONE man's hatred!  The height of the gallows was the height of his pride, his hatred, and his bitterness.  Let us learn a lesson here. 2) ATTITUDE OF GRADITUDE- When things go horribly wrong, do you still have an attitude of graditude?  Job did.  In Job 1:21  "And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."and then in Job 2:10  "But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips." Job knew to take both good and bad from God's hand gracefully.  Paul knew this secret as well.  He said:  Philippians 4:12  "I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need."  Most Christians know how to abound, and how to be full, but not how to be abased and hungry with grace and gratitude.  Can you have an attitude of gratitude when things are not what you want them to be?  The measure of a Christian is how high do they stand when they are brought low.  And how low can they bow when they are exalted.  Think about it. 3) JUST A SHADOW-In Job 8:9, Job gives us a rather thoughtful verse:  "(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)"  It so jumped out at me this morning, and I thought, why have I never noticed this verse before?  I love it.  It is philosophical, it is thought provoking, it is instructional, it was a blessing to my heart!  David understood this truth when he said:  Psalms 39:4  "LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am."   May God's blessings be upon you today.  Pastor Mike Mutchler