Radical Living

Imagine this: You are invited to a party at the palace. You and everyone else in the entire city from least to greatest arrive to marvel at the king's wealth. Duly impressed, you feast your eyes on couches of gold and silver set upon a floor covered with a mosaic of fine jewels. The wine is the highest quality and free flowing! Man, this is an amazing place. As a woman, you are escorted to the rooms of the queen for a banquet there. The party lasts for 7 days.

In the midst of this gigantic party there is some upset rumbling through the male leaders over the fact that the queen will not come when she is called to present herself to the king. Being a Jewish woman, you cringe over her lack of submission but soon go back to enjoying the beauty of your surroundings with a golden cup of wine in your hand.

Back at home you are relieved to return to simple life. Soon you hear the rumor that the queen has been removed. You tremble over the brutality of life in a Persian palace.

Within days men sent from the king come knocking at your door. They say that your beauty has earned you an audience with the king, who is looking for the most beautiful woman in his kingdom to be his new queen. You have no choice. You are forced from the comfort of your home and as you enter the palace gates you are struck with the realization that you may never leave again. It soon becomes clear to you that women from all 127 provinces have been gathered together. You are literally, one in a million.

This is Esther. She faced impossible odds. The king would be calling each woman into his chambers for a royal one night stand. After that they were sent to the concubine quarters and unless they were able to make a big enough impression on the king, so he could call for them by name, they would spend the rest of their lives as pampered slaves. As Esther walked into the palace that day, she walked away from all her dreams of marriage and children. Her chances were miniscule of become the head wife, the queen. In reality she was facing becoming a nameless face in a horde of women.

But did she lay down and cry. Did she throw a fit and refuse to defile herself as the king's plaything. Amazingly, no. She swallowed her pride and stepped up to the situation. She asked for the wisdom of her caretakers and humbly threw herself into this new life with everything she had. She took advise and followed it and she found great favor in this new, strange life.

When the path God mapped out for her took some rocky and radical turns, Esther humbled herself and lived radically.