God was with Esther
Lead me today

In a stormy crisis, in a pitch-black situation, cunning is useless.
Hold on to God with your life.
Break through the wall of reality with the determination that you will die if you die.

In a world threatened by Haman

The kingdom ruled by Satan and the kingdom of God are always in conflict.
As we live, we come across people like Haman who threaten us and try to kill us.
The more we try to live by the truth, the more isolated and dangerous we become.
There is a Haman who threatens to kill and ruin, but there is also an inner Haman who tries to compromise with the world.
How can we triumph in such a world? The Book of Esther gives us the answer.

Face the crisis and overcome it

Even in pitch-black situations, God's providence is at work.
God protects and saves His people through His providence, but it is our responsibility to move forward with faith and obedience.
Esther went forward with the determination, “If I perish, I perish.”
In the midst of a crisis, he did not hide or turn away, but made a bold move of faith.
Today's Christians too must overcome crises with faith.
We must not try to live a life of faith carelessly.
We must be spiritually armed and awake.
God is a master at turning crises into opportunities.
Move forward in obedience, believing that God knows and guides each person's every situation.
That's when you can live a winning life.
The Book of Esther ends in chapter 10, but our lives begin thereafter.
Now we must live as the second Esther, the second Mordecai.
We must write a new story of God.

At first glance, the Book of Esther seems like an ordinary story.
But if you look closely, you'll find a series of gripping scenes.
As we read the Book of Esther, we must think, 'Why did this happen?'
We need to bridge the gap between events.
We must have a perspective that distinguishes between the history of the world and the work of God.
Although the Persian Empire is prominent in the Book of Esther, we must also note how the kingdom of God expands within it.
The world may seem great, but from the perspective of the Kingdom of God, it is not great.
From the perspective of the Kingdom of God, history flows around the history of redemption.
--- p.15

We can see two things through the dethronement of Vashti.
First, King Ahasuerus' weakness.
He possessed royal power but had no power.
To decide something, the help of wise men was needed.
As king he was allowed to make laws, but he was bound by the laws he had permitted.
Second, the impermanence of worldly power.
Although King Ahasuerus seemed to have seized power, it did not last long.
This shows us that what we see is vanity.
King Ahasuerus held a feast for 180 days to display the splendor of his glorious kingdom's wealth and majesty.
According to historians, King Ahasuerus held a feast for 180 days to win the hearts of his subjects and people so that he could invade Greece.
He worked hard for this.
When the power base is weakened like this, bad laws become prevalent.
--- pp.24~25

What is providence? It is the connection of our lives with God.
Our story enters into God's story.
What matters is God's story.
At the center of God's story is the Kingdom of God.
Even if life is difficult and challenging, there is nothing to fear as long as you are in God's providence.
When you are in God's providence, God acts.
In God's providence, nothing happens in vain.
There is a direction God wants us to go.
This is providence.
As we examine the Book of Esther, we must train ourselves to read God's providence.
God's providence is connected to the history of salvation.
--- pp.54~55

The day will come when God's black box will be opened.
Therefore, you cannot just live.
What we do is never small.
Things that happen in our daily lives may seem like coincidences, but God works through them.
God accomplishes great things through what we do.
Therefore, we must be sincere in our daily lives.
Silent loyalty before God will not disappear.
God uses it at the optimal moment.
--- p.87

Even in this day and age, we need people who are awake.
It's easy to fall asleep if you're not awake.
And then he dies.
In this day and age, there are very few people who decide, “If I have to die, I will die.”
The spirituality of martyrdom has disappeared.
Everyone is afraid of death.
I became a coward.
If you try to live comfortably, you might just die.
Even if we try to live comfortably, the world will not leave us alone.
The world is trying to kill us.
Anything can happen in a fallen world.
Many things happen in a day that shake our lives.
How should we live in times like these? Faith is an attitude.
The decision to “die if I have to” is needed in this era.
People who live with this attitude change the world.
--- pp.120~121

I shouldn't kill others to live.
When people are oppressed and exploited for the sake of wealth, justice is broken.
If you focus only on making money, justice will be destroyed.
If you focus only on your own goals and your own happiness, you can end up like Haman.
God's people must be dedicated to establishing justice in the world.
Piety does not end with personal spirituality.
It is also connected to establishing justice in the world.

--- p.173