Seeing God When God Can’t Be Seen Character That Makes A Difference Esther 5

God’s Word has a lot to say about pride and what it looks like and why it’s bad and how to avoid it. Proverbs 16:18 Proverbs 29:23 John 3:27 1 Corinthians 4:7

How are you coming at handling the sin of pride? Surely none of us would say that we have totally mastered the sin of pride, because as soon as we made the statement, it would be proof that the statement wasn’t true.

Those who want to live for God display character that makes a difference. Three points of contrast between those who are living for the Lord and those who aren’t. Main Point

What do you see happening in this text that contributed / or played a part in Esther’s courage? 1.She knew what counsel to listen to Mordecai challenged her to think about what God was doing and he challenged her to take a significant step in order to serve God. I.Esther’s Courage Motivated Her to Act Decisively.

If you surround yourself with godly people and godly truth, you’ll be much more likely to act in a courageous fashion because you’ll be convinced that while perhaps what you’re doing may be hard, it’s also right because its what God wants you to do.

2.She was willing to act on her faith. Remember that Mordecai had said to her in verse 14, “If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place...” that was based on the promises God had already made to the Jewish nation. Esther had to decide, was she going to believe that too so much so that she was willing to act on it.

Could you give similar examples of how you acted decisively in faith even though there was some risk involved? Or has God placed you in such a situation now, and you’re trying to decide what to do? Is God looking for contemporary Esther’s? men and women who have the godly courage to act decisively for Him even when there’s a risk involved… Assuming that you’d agree that the answer to the question is “yes”, are you willing to be that person?

One thing that ought to strike us about Esther is that we don't see her rushing. When Mordecai told her to keep her Jewish heritage a secret until the right time, she did so patiently. When Mordecai encouraged Esther to go see the king, she asked that she and the others first fast and pray for three days. II.Esther’s Patience Motivated Her to Act Carefully.

How do they go together? Sometimes you’re in a situation where its best to be patient and not yet act. At other times, you ought to act, and then be patient to see what God is going to do next. Many times its a situation like the one we’re studying, where there’s actually a mixture of acting, but doing so in a very careful, patient, and orderly way.

What is one of the characteristics that will throw this balance off? What can stop us from acting decisively when that’s really what God’s Word would have us to do? What can cause us to charge in without first patiently waiting on Him? The answer to both questions is what’s illustrated in the rest of the chapter ---- Pride.

What is God’s Word trying to emphasize to us? Haman draws people around him who will fuel his pride. He drew people around him who would already agree with him, and tell him what a wonderful person he was. III.Haman’s Pride Motivated Him to Act Foolishly.

What happens to this pride in verse 13? Pride will never be satisfied. When a person is living for themselves, there’s never enough praise, there’s never enough compliments, there’s never enough material possessions.

Pride unchecked will generate malice. Haman sees Mordecai at the King’s gate which means that Mordecai still had some position of authority in the kingdom, and Mordecai’s presence fills Haman with rage. All of this pride culminated in a rash decision and a rash act.

1.It begins by knowing Christ. The best way to not be self-centered is to instead be Christ-centered. 2. Evaluate the kind of counsel you’re bringing into your life. Pride makes us think we know it all already, humility causes us to want to hunger and thirst after righteousness. Life Steps

3.Be patient when you ought to be patient Does your humility cause you to slow up and pray? …to slow up and get counsel from godly people around you? 4.Be decisive in acting when you know you should, even when its hard. Esther showed her humility by doing what God wanted her to do, even though it was a difficult thing.

Proud people only do things their way...humble people are willing to them God’s way. Final Thought