Insight For Living~ Charles R Swindoll

November 2, 2011

Unexpected Witnesses
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 9:1--10:3

At the end of Esther's story, we have the same king as at the beginning, King Ahasuerus. We have the same kingdom, where he reigns from India to Ethiopia, more than 127 provinces. We have the same country, Persia, and the same capital city, Susa. But some things have changed. Vashti is no longer queen; Esther is queen. And she is a queen who has won her husband's overwhelming respect and loyalty. Haman was once second in command, but he is gone forever. Mordecai is alive and well. Wicked plans have been thwarted. Corruption has been rooted out. Evil has been fully dealt with. To make matters even better, Mordecai has been promoted by the king, and he is now in Haman's old position---"second only to King Ahasuerus."

When God wins, the people He uses are often unexpected. Or consider another unexpected choice. If you wanted to lead an exodus of two million people out of Egypt, who would you choose to confront Pharaoh---a Jew or a fellow Egyptian? Be honest, now. And if you chose a Jew, would you choose a man with murder on his record? And would he be eighty years old? And would you select a leather-skinned shepherd who hadn't been in a big city for forty years? See, the further you look, the more surprising it gets. Moses' resumé was pretty unimpressive: "Worked for father-in-law as shepherd for past forty years." He was an over-the-hill Bedouin.

Would you have chosen a harlot to hide the spies? Would you have chosen a defecting, rebellious prophet to lead the Greater Nineveh Evangelistic Crusade? Would you have chosen a former Christian-hating Pharisee to model grace and to write most of the New Testament? Would you have chosen a man who denied Jesus (three times!) as the major spokesman for the early church?

But, you see, God does surprising things. That's why He lifts a no-name Jew from the gate of the king and makes him a prime minister. God delights in lifting up nobodies and using them as somebodies. As Paul writes to the Corinthians, "not many mighty, not many noble"---in other words, not many bluebloods are chosen. He has chosen the despised and many of the losers of the world to follow the One who died on a cross and to bring ultimate victory for us all. So, as you have seen so clearly in the book of Esther, the God who seems not to be present is, in fact, ever-present, omnipotent, and in complete control. And so He is in your life too.


Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission

November 1, 2011

Breaking Down Walls
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 8:15--17

It was like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's all rolled into one. It was like Berlin on the ninth of November 1989! It was like nothing they had ever seen before. They would sing all night and all the next day because the gloom was lifted! The darkness wasn't impenetrable after all. It had just seemed so.

Do you live in a place of gloom and darkness, where laughter doesn't echo off the walls? Has your life become grim or even borderline tragic? While others go home to the love and warmth of a family, do you go home alone to the awful memory of broken relationships, remorse, and guilt?

Perhaps your last sounds of the day are the clanging of a cell door and some guard yelling, "Lights out!" Do you look with longing at a scene like this one in Esther?

Esther's story is no irrelevant slice of history tucked away in the folds of an ancient scroll. These principles are still at work today. This is life, as relevant today as when it was first recorded. This is written to people who face intimidating, stubborn souls. Perhaps they live with them, are married to them, or have grown children like that. This is written to people whose lives have been scarred by documents and lawsuits, bad reports, or rumors. This is written to people whose lives are lived within the thick, stone walls of depression and doom. And this chapter announces in bold letters: There is hope!

Walls fall every day. But we cannot predict when yours will fall. God is in the business of breaking down walls. Take hope! Take heart! This will pass. The truth will become known. Every day walls of depression and gloom are penetrated by the wonderful presence of the living God.

Weeping may last for the night,
But a shout of joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5)

Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission

October 31, 2011


He's in Charge
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 8:9--14

The law of the Medes and Persians couldn't be changed. The law Haman had written had to stay on the books. But because the heart of the king had been softened by the pleas of Esther, he provided a way by which that law might never come into effect---or would at least be neutralized.

The Jews could protect themselves. In fact, they could do more than that. They could take the lives of anyone who might attack them, including women and children, and they had a right to plunder and take ownership of their possessions. So at least it was an even playing field. The Jews now had their own defense, established of all things, by the Persian law. "The couriers, hastened and impelled by the king's command, went out, riding on the royal steeds; and the decree was given out at the citadel in Susa" (Esther 8:14).

Amazing! And to think these rights provided for all the Jews were granted by the same man who earlier had virtually sealed their doom.

You may have some person after you. You may have some document, something that's been written that seems irrevocable---some magazine article, some newspaper article, some transcript, some occupational report, some lawsuit, whatever. Because it's in writing, it looks so intimidating, so unerasable, so legal. And you're reading these words, thinking, Yeah, but if you only knew who's behind that. That's my whole point here! Who is anybody compared to the living Lord? I don't care who's behind that document. We serve a sovereign God who has yet to go "Ahh!" when He finds anything on this earth. Nothing frightens Him. Nothing causes Him to do a neck jerk. He's in charge! We live "in the shelter of the Most High." We "abide in the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1). Nothing is too hard for Him! Nothing!



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission

October 29, 2011

The Workings of God
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 7:6--10

The workings of God are not related to our clocks; they are related to our crises. That's why God doesn't care if this is the last day you can buy that car on sale. It doesn't bother God that it is the first day of summer or high noon or a quarter after seven or ten minutes to one in the morning. His timing is unrelated to Planet Earth's clock time. So while waiting, look beyond the present.

The best way to do that is to pray! Make your life a life of prayer. Tell Him, in anguish if necessary, the pain of waiting. Express your panic. Tell Him you're trapped. (Ask Him to hurry up, if that helps. He can handle it!) You don't know how you can stay afloat much longer. In those moments, ask Him to help you see beyond the frustration and fear of the present.

The surprises in store are not merely ironic or coincidental; they are sovereignly designed. While anticipating, trust Him for justice. You may not live to see that justice, but it will come. He is a just God; you know He is. So trust Him for it.

I have found while in the fog that my great temptation is either to doubt or to deny---maybe they're the same thing---to doubt or to deny that He is even at work. But, more often than not, when something looks like it's the absolute end, it's really just the beginning. I can see this later, when I look back.

Esther, our heroine, is a lovely model to follow. And her story is certainly one to remember. But the best focus of all? God Himself. How perfectly He works, how sovereignly He controls, and how remarkably He changes the face of things once He moves in. A queen who was passive is actively in charge. A king who was duped is now fully informed. An enemy who was only moments away from exterminating a nation is now an object of scorn. And those ghastly gallows, built for a Jew named Mordecai, will soon suffocate the body of a Gentile named Haman.

When will we ever learn? At the precise moment when it will have its greatest impact, God ceases His silence and sovereignly makes His move. And when He does, life is full of surprises.



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission

October 28, 2011

Surprising Sovereignty
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 7:6--10

All the time Haman was having the gallows built, he could see---enthusiastically anticipate---Mordecai impaled there. Now he is condemned to die there himself. We call this irony. Theologians call it sovereignty. I call it God's surprising sovereignty!

I can remember a time early on in my ministerial training when the sovereignty of God was frightening to me. Not understanding its implications as fully as I do now some thirty-five years later, I felt it would make me passive and virtually irresponsible. Furthermore, I feared what it would do to my theology of evangelism. If I really threw myself into this doctrine, God could become a distant deity, sort of a celestial brute, pushing and maneuvering His way through nameless humanity, as He did what He pleased to get what He wanted. I could see my zeal waning and my passion for souls drained to the point of indifference.

Through a series of events far too numerous and complicated to describe, I've come to realize that, rather than being frightened by God's sovereignty, I'm comforted in it. Since He alone is God, and since He, being God, "does all things well" and in doing them has only good as His goal, how could I do anything but embrace it?

Does that mean I can explain it? No, only rarely, when hindsight yields insight. Does that mean I always anticipate it? No, like you, I occasionally rush to judgment or respond in panic, wondering why He is so silent, allowing wrong to run its course so long. But looking back in more reasonable moments, with my emotions under better control (His control!), I can see what He was about. I can even see why He delayed, or why He acted when He did. Usually, I freely admit, I think He is awfully slow (I can't number the times I've pleaded, "O God, please hurry up!"), and I am usually surprised, though I shouldn't be, at how beautifully things work out, right on time.

In the final analysis, God is God, and He will have His way when He pleases and for His glory. What could be better than that? In all the mystery of His waiting and working, and in the wrong of our doing and undoing, He can still be trusted. The main thing is that you and I remain sensitive to those moments when He finally breaks the silence and suddenly intervenes on our behalf. At least to us it seems sudden. To Him, it happened exactly as He had planned it all along.


Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission

October 27, 2011

When God Calls the Shots
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 7:3--10

The plot thickens as the excitement builds. Esther plans a banquet for the king and Haman. Blinded by his own conceit, Haman thinks the queen wants to honor him. But when the king asks Esther what request she might have that he can grant, she says, "I want both of you to come to another banquet tomorrow. Then I will tell you what I want."

Haman was thrilled! The queen was going to honor him twice with a feast in the presence of King Ahasuerus. She must really think I'm something, he thought.

On the way back home, he saw Mordecai, that Jew who would not give him the homage and deference he felt he had coming. Haman was infuriated at the sight of his nemesis.

You see, when God calls the shots, nobody can stop the action! The most powerful man in the land next to the king gets his hands tied and his mouth silenced. God and God alone can do such things.

When I come to this book that never mentions God, I see Him all the more profoundly and eloquently portrayed throughout it. It's there in invisible ink. Just like life. I've never seen skywriting that says, "I'm here, Chuck. You can count on Me." I've never heard an audible voice in the middle of the night reassuring me, "I'm here, My son." But by faith I see Him, and inaudibly I hear Him on a regular basis, reading Him written in the events of my life---whether it be the crushing blows that drive me to my knees or the joyous triumphs that send my heart winging. When I pause long enough to look back, I realize it is the unsearchable mind, the unfathomable will, the sovereign control, the irresistible providence of God at work, because He, though invisible, remains invincible.

Are you letting God call the shots in your life?

Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission

October 26, 2011


The Ride of Your Life
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 7:3--5

Talk about the power of a woman! Can you believe Esther's diplomacy and sensitivity, even in the midst of pleading for her life and the lives of her people? "If we were only being sold into slavery, I wouldn't have troubled you with this matter. You have so many important matters to worry about, I wouldn't have bothered you. But he wants to annihilate us!" Esther beautifully portrays in this moment the character qualities of greatness. Her husband is all ears!

Then King Ahasuerus asked Queen Esther, "Who is he, and where is he, who would presume to do thus?" (Esther 7:5).

At this point, I confess that my response might have been something like, "What do you mean, 'Who is he?' You were there when Haman proposed this heinous thing. You gave him your seal to sign the edict. What do you mean, 'Who is he?' Open your eyes!" Thankfully, I wasn't there to blow it.

We live in a world of preoccupied people. They, too, live in a fog---the fog of busyness, stress, and obligations. Who knows how many edicts Ahasuerus signed that day? Who knows how many pressing matters of government were on his mind? The king had countless decisions to make. And Haman, a trusted official, had proposed it in such a way that he seemed to be solving a problem that directly affected the good of the kingdom. So the king probably signed it without giving it a great deal of attention, believing that Haman, a man he trusted, knew what he was doing.

Suddenly, however, things changed. Never try to convince me that some situations in this life are absolutely permanent. God can move in the heart of a king. He can move an entire nation. He can bring down the once-impenetrable Iron Curtain. He can change the mind of your stubborn mate. He can move in the affairs of your community. He can alter decisions of presidents, prime ministers, present-day kings, and national dictators. No barrier is too high, no chasm is too wide for Him, because He's not limited by space or time, by the visible or the invisible. Remember, He lives in a realm that transcends all that. He is all-powerful. When God is ready to move, He moves. And when He does, hang on. You're in for the ride of your life!


Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission

October 25, 2011


The Fog Is Lifting
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 7:1--2

Imagine swimming in a vast lake and getting three or four hundred yards offshore when suddenly a freak fog rolls in and surrounds you. You're trapped in this tiny circle of diffused light, but you can't see beyond your arm's reach.

You and I are locked in a tiny space on this foggy lake of life called the present. Because our entire perspective is based on this moment in which we find ourselves, we speak of the present, the past, and the future. If we want to know the hour or minute or second, we merely look at our watches. If we want to know the day or the month, the year or the century, we look at the calendar. Time. Easily marked, carefully measured. It is all very objective: measurable, understandable, and conscious.

God is not like that at all. As a matter of fact, He lives and moves outside the realm of earthly time. In His time and only in His time, He begins to move in subtle ways until, suddenly, as His surprising sovereignty unfolds, a change occurs. It's God's way of lifting the fog, which always happens when He decides and when He pleases!

"What is your petition?" the king asks Esther. "What is your request?"

He's already asked that two other times: when she first approached him and he held out his scepter, and then at the first banquet. But Esther never answered him, because the time wasn't right. Esther had a sensitive ear, a wise heart; she sensed something wasn't quite right. So, she didn't push it. She knew when to act---and she knew when to wait.

Are you as sensitive as that? Do you know when to listen? Do you know when to speak up and when to keep quiet? Do you know how much to say and when to say it? Do you have the wisdom to hold back until exactly the right moment in order to achieve maximum results? Those things make a difference, you know. The question is: Are you sufficiently in tune with God to read His subtle signals? It's easy to jump at the first sighting of the fog's lifting.

As Solomon once wrote, "There is a time for every event under heaven . . . a time to be silent and a time to speak" (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7).



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission

When God Seems Absent
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 6:12--14

If you're like me, you're often waiting for the other shoe to drop. In this instance, we're waiting for---and wanting---Haman to get what he deserves. Everything within us craves justice. Especially with a loser like Haman, who has strutted his stuff long enough.

Never once in all of Haman's peacock strutting and evil plotting had God ignored him or his plan to murder Mordecai and the Jews. God had not missed his statements, the pride of his heart, the violent and prejudicial motives behind his decisions. God was invisible, but He was not out of touch or passive. He had not forgotten His people or His promises to them---and to their enemies.

A knock came at the door. And before he could even get his thoughts together, Haman was swept out of the house and escorted to the palace for the banquet that would spell his doom. I can't help but wonder if on the way to the palace Haman glanced again at the gallows he had built for Mordecai, shook his head, and regretted what he had done.

A magnificent theological principle underscored again and again in the Scriptures is this: When God seems absent, He's present. Even when you think you have lost all, God uses it as an opportunity to awaken you to the realization that He is still in charge, as well as to bring you to your knees.

Do you feel that God has been absent or on hold in your life, distant in some way? I want to remind you of this: He may have seemed absent from you, but He has been present all along. Furthermore, He knows your heart. He knows the true condition of your soul. He knows the hidden impurities of your motives. He knows the deep depravity of your sin. But He's heard your cry, and He will not turn you away.



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission

October 22, 2011


God Notices
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 6:1--14

Never fails, does it? Things are not as they seem. And about the time you think they cannot get worse, they do. This was certainly true for Mordecai at a pivotal point in the story of Esther.

When all seems lost, it isn't. Mordecai could have despaired at the situation in Persia. The king was a Gentile. He had no interest in the Jews. Furthermore his closest confidant was Haman, who shamelessly hated the Jews. Esther was in the palace, but when the king found out she was a Jew, her life might be over in an instant. When all seems lost, it isn't.

When no one seems to notice, they do. Remember Mordecai's courageous decision earlier when he heard of a conspiracy between two of the doorkeepers of the palace, who were plotting to kill the king? When Mordecai heard of that conspiracy, he told his adopted daughter Esther about it. And she, being the queen, alerted the king.

Esther had told the king that the information had come from Mordecai, yet no one ever rewarded him for his great act. It seemed as though no one noticed or remembered. So Mordecai went on living his life unnoticed, unrewarded, and unappreciated---until this pivotal night.

I love the first three words of 6:1, "During that night." That's the way it is with God. At the eleventh hour, He steps in and does the unexpected. When no one seems to notice and no one seems to care, He notices and He cares "during that night."

Learn a lesson from Mordecai today, will you? Through all that happens to him, Mordecai never becomes a man of vengeance. He never tries to get back at Haman, even when he has the opportunity, even when he has Haman in a very vulnerable spot. He doesn't kick him in the face when he has a chance to. He doesn't even speak against the man. Let me challenge you to guard your heart as Mordecai did.


For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. (Hebrews 6:10)

I love those words, "God is not unjust so as to forget." When no one else notices, mark it down, God notices. When no one else remembers, God records it so it won't be forgotten.


Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission

October 21, 2011


God's Silence
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 5:5--7

Since we are trapped in this earthbound cage, this little space where light is often diffused and God is sometimes silent, how can we be sensitive to His interventions? What do we do when we, like Job, struggle in the fog with God's silence, when we're convinced that His silence means absence?

Please be assured, He is not absent. He may be silent, but He's not absent.

The fog on your lake is neither accidental nor fatal. So while swimming, listen very carefully and patiently for His voice. Some days you will be seized with panic and dog-paddle like mad. You'll try various approaches: breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke, float. But all the time, you want to be listening for His voice. I urge you to listen with great sensitivity, because His message will come in various ways.

I get nervous around some people and the way they talk about hearing God or seeing Him at work. Miracles are everyday occurrences to them. They see skywriting in the clouds, and they hear voices in the night. Hear me well, that's not the kind of "voice" I'm talking about.

God gave you a mind. God gave you reason. God gave you a unique sensitivity; it's built into your spiritual system, and each person's system is tuned differently. God wants to reveal His will to you and to teach you while you are waiting. So while you are waiting, don't start searching for spooky stuff. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Get into His Word. Get on your knees. Accept counsel from those who are maturing and balanced believers, solidly biblical in their theology and in their own lives. And wait.

However, there are tangible things to connect with. Passages of Scripture that bring comfort and insight. Messages that enlighten and enliven. Certain people you respect. Tap into those, wait, and listen with a sensitive ear. Like Esther, don't rush into big decisions. And may I be painfully direct? Don't talk so much! Believers who are maturing not only respect God's silence, they model it as well.



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission

October 20, 2011

Full of Surprises
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 5:4--14

God was at work in the waiting, filling her thoughts with a plan. When you wait on the Lord, you don't have to sit in a corner contemplating your navel, or walk around in a daze humming "Sweet Hour of Prayer." You don't have to go out on a hillside, eat birdseed, and strum a guitar. You don't have to wear a robe and live in a hut in Tibet for the winter. Sometimes, of course, you need to sit down quietly, by yourself, alone with the Lord for a time of quietness. Solitude and silence are wonderful when nourishing our souls. But mostly you go right on with your business. You press on with your regular activities. You just focus more fully on the Lord in the midst of it. You stay preoccupied with Him. You try to think His thoughts. You recall words from His Book that you've memorized. You feed your soul His manna.

"Great idea," the king says. "Banquets are my thing." (She knew that.) "Then the king said, 'Bring Haman quickly that we may do as Esther desires.' So the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared" (Esther 5:5).

The king may rule the kingdom of Persia, and Haman may sign edicts with the king's official seal, but it is the Lord who is in control of this entire situation. And in the nucleus of His divine plan, Esther becomes invincible.

Esther must have been sitting there thinking, Isn't God great? I could have lost my head. Instead, here they are at this banquet I've prepared. The plan is working beautifully. What a surprise!

God is full of surprises. But it takes a sensitive spirit to see them, to be jolted by them. Too many Christians are lulled into languor. Some can warble all the Christian songs, recite all the right Bible verses, and quote this preacher and that teacher, but their Christian lives, down deep inside, are jaded. Are you in that condition? When that happens, you become calloused and insensitive, and you're in for a life of boredom and mediocrity. How tragic for that to happen! The walk of faith is designed to be a walk of adventure, filled with periodic and delightful surprises.

Watch for the surprises!



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission

October 19, 2011


Calm, Wise, and Confident
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 5:1--3

No king has ever intimidated God, no matter how wealthy his treasury, how extensive his kingdom, or how powerful his armies. God can handle anyone. Anyone! He can handle your husband. He can handle your wife. He can handle your kids. He can handle your pastor. He can handle the person who gives you grief. He can handle your ex-mate, that person who made you all those promises and broke most of them. He can even handle your enemy. He can handle the most intimidating situation, because in the hand of the Lord, any heart is like water.

Esther walks in that confidence. Look at her. She doesn't cringe and cower; she stands. Esther stood in front of the king's rooms. "The king saw Esther the queen standing" (emphasis mine.) She's not trembling. Though she's doing what's never been done before, she is standing tall, confident in the Lord.

And when the king saw her standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight, and he extended his golden scepter to her. Remember, without that gesture from the king, she would die. And now, confident, she touches the top of the scepter, making a connection with the king. "Then the king said to her, 'What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you' " (Esther 5:3).

I love that. Esther doesn't know what to expect, and the king says simply, "What's on your mind? What's troubling you?" In fact, he goes further. He says, "What can I do for you? Name it. There's no limit; it's yours."

Now this is her moment to bring down the roof on Haman---but she doesn't. Not now. This is a wise woman who understands the value of timing. She isn't in a hurry, nor is she revengeful. You know why? She has been waiting on the Lord.

We get in a hurry when we don't wait on the Lord. We jump ahead and do rash things. We shoot from the hip. We run off at the mouth, saying things that we later regret. But when we have sufficiently waited on the Lord, He gets full control of our spirit. At such moments, we're like a glove, and His hand is moving us wherever He pleases. Having known that experience, I can testify, there's nothing to compare it to. It's marvelous!

Wait on the Lord.



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission

October 18, 2011


Wait . . . and Listen
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 4:12--17; Isaiah 41:10, 13

During the three days of waiting, there is a "white space" when nothing is happening---at least nothing visible. You could easily tell yourself at the time, "I'm waiting in vain. Nothing's going to change." That's what the adversary wants you to think: "Waiting's a waste." Don't you believe it! When the enemy's message roams into your mind, you need to kick it out. Reject it. Look at another verse in Isaiah, just a few verses after the "eagle" verse.

Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand,
Who says to you, "Do not fear, I will help you." (Isaiah 41:10, 13)

It's those kinds of thoughts that surely strengthened Esther while she was waiting, praying, and fasting for those three days. Mordecai did the same, as Esther had commanded. But now their roles were reversed. He was no longer in charge; she was. Or, better still, the Lord was. And as the Lord gripped her heart, she became unafraid of what she faced.

This may be one of those "white spaces" in your own life. Maybe it's time for you to pray and fast and to call upon a few close friends to fast and pray with you. Maybe it's time for you to say, "I'm not going to rush into this unpredictable and unprecedented situation. I can't find the path to walk. So I'm going to wait. In the meantime, I'm going to give it to God. I'm going to listen with a sensitive ear and watch the Lord's leading with a sensitive eye."

God counsels us with His eye. The eye makes no sound when it moves. It requires a sensitive, earthly eye to watch the movement of the eye of God---God's directions. All He may do is turn your attention in another direction. But that may be all you need. As you wait, listen. Pore over a favorite passage in His Word. Quietly give attention to His presence, and He gives you direction.



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

October 17, 2011


Results of Waiting
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 4:12--17; Isaiah 40:31

Now, even though what happened in the three days between chapters 4 and 5 is not recorded, don't think for a moment that God is whiling away His time, busy with other things. Remember, He may be invisible, but He is at work. That's the beauty of His invisibility. He can be moving in a thousand places at the same time, working in circumstances that are beyond our control. During a waiting period, God is not only working in our hearts, He's working in others' hearts. And all the while He is giving added strength. Remember Isaiah's words about waiting?

Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary. (Isaiah 40:31)

Even though the prophet's pen put these words on the sacred page centuries ago, that verse of Scripture is as pertinent and relevant as what you read in the paper this morning---and far more trustworthy. From this verse we learn that four things happen when we wait.

First, we gain new strength. We may feel weak, even intimidated, when we turn to our Lord. While waiting, amazingly we exchange our weakness for His strength.

Second, we get a better perspective. It says we "will mount up with wings like eagles." Eagles can spot fish in a lake several miles away on a clear day. By soaring like eagles while waiting, we gain perspective on our situation.

Third, we store up extra energy. "We will run and not get tired." Notice, it's future tense. When we do encounter the thing we have been dreading, we will encounter it with new strength---extra energy will be ours to use.

Fourth, we will deepen our determination to persevere. We "will walk and not become weary." The Lord whispers reassurance to us. He puts steel in our bones, so to speak. We begin to feel increasingly more invincible.

We'll gain new strength. We'll get a better perspective. We'll store up extra energy. We'll deepen our determination to persevere. All that happens when we . . . wait.



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

October 15, 2011

I Will Stand
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 4:12--16

When it comes to touching the heart, few things do it as well as a song or a story. We all know occasions where the right music combined with the right lyrics wooed us or someone we know back to God. Sometimes it is a song that our mother taught us, or some moving hymn we learned years ago in church. Nostalgia serves us best when it's a magnet, drawing our hearts back to God.

A story will do the same, softening the soil of our souls. When you have the right characters who carry out life's issues in a plot that is mixed with adventure, surprise, and some humor, along with purpose and an ultimate moral, there's something about that story that sweeps us into a right state of mind. Esther is just such a story. It has adventure and suspense mixed with courage and hope, plus a touch of humor and certainly a twist of surprise.

What a great film or play Esther would make. Can't you just hear the words of Mordecai ringing with passion as he says, "If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?"

And then, with incredible courage, Esther herself replies, "Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish."

I can hear the applause as the curtain closes on this act with this grand speech that prepares our leading lady to take her place in history.

It reminds me of something C. S. Lewis said about the importance of being loyal to a cause that is greater than ourselves. He likened that quality to a person's chest. "What we need are people with chests." The old American word for this is "guts." We need people with guts who will say, "I will stand for this, and if I must die for it, then I die."

Will you be one of those people?



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

October 14, 2011

The Cause
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 4:12--16

Is that a great answer or what? Is this a great woman? She's had only a few moments to consider what Mordecai had told her, a brief slice of time to weigh his counsel. It was all she needed. She is determined to make a difference, no matter what the consequences to her personally: "If I perish, I perish. If a guard drives a sword through my body, I die doing the right thing." She has changed from fear to abandonment and faith, from hesitation to confidence and determination, from concern for her own safety to concern for her people's survival. She has reached her own personal hour of decision and has not been found wanting.

Do you recall when young David was asked by his father to leave the sheep and take some food and supplies to his brothers who were fighting the Philistines at the valley of Elah? When he got there, he found the giant Goliath roaming the battlefield, taunting and blaspheming the God of Israel. When he learns what is going on, he says, in effect, "Let's do something about it." And his older brother, Eliab, laughs and says sarcastic stuff like, "Oh, so you're going to be the big-time hero, huh? How are all those little woollies doing while you're out here on the battlefield with us?" Remember young David's answer? "Is there not a cause?" (1 Samuel 17:29 KJV). Shortly thereafter he whips out his slingshot and downs Goliath with one smooth stone.

"Of course there is a cause!" David implies, if not in words, at least in his actions: "What are you doing sitting around in your tents with your knees knocking? There is a giant out there who hates the cause of the living God! What are you men doing standing here? Our God will fight for me. And if I perish, I perish."

Esther realized the same thing. She realized there was an enemy out there, not only of her people, but more importantly, of the living God. And as soon as that realization seized her awareness, the softness of the palace became uncomfortable.

"Enough of the easy life," said Esther. "It's time to put my name on the line. I am Jewish, and I believe in the living God. I'm ready to stand alone for my people. And if I perish, I perish."

"Is there not a cause" in your heart and mind?



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

October 13, 2011

Risk It!
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 4:12--14

What does it matter if I get involved or not? It matters greatly---it matters to your character! Yes, it's true that God has other ways to accomplish His objectives. He has other people He can use. He isn't frustrated or restrained because you and I may be indifferent. But when that happens, we are the losers. When we have been called "for such a time as this," how tragic it is if we don't stand up in that hour.

There will be no celestial shout urging you to take a stand. Nor will a flash of lightning awaken you in the midst of your slumber. It doesn't work like that, so don't sit around waiting passively. Numerous needs and issues surround us. They summon us to stand up and be counted. While we will not be able to respond to all of them, the solution is not to respond to none of them! So let me ask you: What are you doing to stand up, to stand alone, to answer the call of God in this hour? Allow me to spell out a few issues and needs worth considering.

Are you involved in helping dysfunctional families? How about those who are homeless and hungry? Or those who are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol? What do you do for the orphans and widows? In "such a time as this," what do you stand against and stand for? Do you take a stand against pornography? Do you support any part of the cause of the pro-life movement against abortion? Where do you stand as it relates to the absence of masculinity, the whole extreme feminist movement? What about the horror of sexual abuse that has become so rampant in our society? Or prejudice against other races or nationalities? What about the developmentally disabled? This is an urgent hour of need. Are you there, ready to be salt and light, in this hour?

Not until you believe one person can make a difference will you be willing to take a risk. Quit being so careful about protecting your own back. Stop worrying about what others will think. You don't answer to them. You answer to Him. He will help. He will give you wisdom and courage. You may be only one, but you are one. So, take a risk!



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

October 12, 2011

I'm Available
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 2:19--4:14

Let's look at Haman. This guy hates Mordecai not just because he's a Jew, but because Mordecai will not bow down to him. So Haman talks the king into a game plan. "If you follow my rules, I will pour money into your treasury. All I ask is that you give me the right to rid the land of all these Jews." And so King Ahasuerus, believing Haman and ignoring the brutal genocide he is plotting, passes it off with a wave of his hand, "Go ahead, do whatever you need to do."

When Mordecai gets word of what Haman is planning, he makes a crucial but dangerous decision. He must tell his adopted daughter, Esther; she must know about Haman's evil plan. Because, you see, by now Esther had become queen, but nobody knew she was a Jew. When she was chosen as the king's consort, Mordecai had advised her not to tell anybody about her ethnic origins. Obediently, she hadn't (Esther 2:10).

Mordecai entertained no doubt that the Jews would survive this holocaust. He was convinced that God would not let His people be wiped from the face of the earth. He and Esther might be killed, but ultimately someone would deliver the Jews. However, what if God's plan was already in process? What if the means to that deliverance had already been put in place by the hand of God? What if it included Esther's getting involved? She was, after all, the queen.

"Esther, listen!" says Mordecai. "God's hand was on my getting the message from Haman that the Jews will be killed. And God's hand was on your being appointed queen. Perhaps you were put into this position just for this altogether unique hour in our history. Don't be silent. This is your greatest hour. Speak! Plead with the king. Stop this plot against our people!"

I've heard some people claim that they can't believe in the sovereignty of God because doing so makes you passive. Frankly, I don't see it. Not if it stays balanced and biblically oriented. If anything, the sovereignty of God makes me active. It drives me before Him as I plead, "Lord, involve me in the process, if it pleases You. Activate me in Your action plan. I'm available. Speak through me. Use me."



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

October 11, 2011


Cultivating Character
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 4:9--14

Now, before you frown and entertain thoughts of self-righteousness, thinking that you would never have responded like that, remember, you're surrounded by friends in a safe and unthreatened environment where there are no armed soldiers outside and governmental protocol to obey. Furthermore, chances are good you don't live under a cloud because of the race into which you were born, and there's no king sitting on a throne at whose whim you live or die. It's easy to be brave when we're protected and secure, when we have nothing to risk.

If Esther obeyed Mordecai, she stood to risk everything, including her life. Although the king was her husband, she couldn't just stroll into his office and casually unload what was on her mind. Things didn't work like that in ancient Persia. He had to send for her. And at that time, he hadn't sent for her for a month. If she went to him without being summoned, he could have her put to death. On top of all that, she was Jewish. Who knows how that Gentile monarch would respond when he found that out?

It was a huge dilemma. But Mordecai knew Esther. He had taken care of her. He had trained her. He knew how far he could push. Most of all, he knew her character. He knew the stuff of which she was made.

Encouraging the cultivation of character is exactly what wise parents do, nudging, urging their children toward maturity. As a parent, you have occasions in your life, brief vignettes, little windows of time, where you can step forward and help your children to understand the value of being brave. As they grow up and those hands-on occasions change to a more distant relationship, you must call upon your children to stand for what they believe, even if they must stand alone---and then trust them to do it without you alongside.

Mordecai faces that moment. So when Hathach comes to him with Esther's answer, Mordecai tightens the sash around his sackcloth and says the hard thing. He appeals to her character.

In that same situation, what do you think you would have said to the queen?



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

October 10, 2011


Watch Your Words
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 4:1--8

Have you noticed how suffering brings people together? Have you watched how people join forces to respond to disasters? Hardship forces us to grab hands with one another and pull up closer together. Suffering never ruined a nation! Hardship doesn't fracture families. Affluence does! But not suffering. Not hardship. It pushes everybody to the same level with the same goal: survival. And so we're not surprised to find the Jews weeping and wailing and fasting together.

Mordecai not only informs Esther, through her servant, of all that has happened, even down to the specifics regarding the exact amount of money in the deal; he also sends along official evidence---a copy of the text of the edict. "Have your queen read this," he says. "This was signed with the king's signet ring." He didn't lose control of his emotions; he didn't exaggerate. He was careful with the information he communicated.

Why do I make such a point of this? Because we live in a day of hearsay, when few people pass along information that is precise and reliable. Do you? Are you careful about what you say? Do you have the facts? Do you offer proof that the information you are conveying is correct? While there are occasions when it's appropriate to pass along needed and serious information to the right sources, there's a growing preoccupation with rumor and slander. Half truths and innuendos become juicy morsels in the mouths of unreliable gossips. There is no way to measure the number of people who have been hurt by rumor, exaggeration, and hearsay. Perhaps you have suffered this yourself.

Be careful what you say. Be careful how you say it. Be careful that you send the right message, that you send it to the right person, and that you do so with the right motive.



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

October 8, 2011


Ask and Trust
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 2:12--18

God does not mock us with the things He includes in His Word. He isn't in the business of making His people squirm under some unrealistic expectation that they can never attain---something that is totally unique to one person but remains for everyone else a frustrating and unreachable challenge. But I must quickly add, you cannot become these things by taking your cues from the world. That only brings defeat and frustration. You, as an individual, have your own pressures, your own difficulties, your own unique circumstances, but God offers ways to handle them and become His special person. The question is how?

First, ask God. Ask Him to cultivate character within you. Ask Him to give you a discontent for the superficial and a deeper desire for the spiritual. Make yourself available to His strength, His reproofs. Seek His counsel for the things you lack. Allow Him to help you set reasonable goals. Record them in your journal so you will have a written account of your prayer to Him.

Ask God to give you that kind of authenticity. To place more emphasis on what's happening deep within your heart and less emphasis on the externals, the superficial, the temporary.

Second, trust God. Trust Him to control the circumstances around you---those very circumstances that you perhaps are using as an excuse for not being the woman you want to be. Don't wait for your circumstances to be perfect. Remember Esther. At the height of competition, surrounded by sensual, greedy, superficial women, Esther stood alone. And, amazingly, God gave her favor in others' eyes!

Ask God. Trust God. We are completely dependent on Him for eternal life, for forgiveness, for character, for security. His light in our lives gives us a growing disgust for things that merely satisfy the flesh. It shows us the importance of character, the incredible change that can come by standing alone on the things of God. He alone can give us grace and winsomeness and keep us from becoming squint-eyed, cranky Christians. It is His working in our lives that uses us even in the harems of life to make a difference and to model a charm and a beauty, a dignity and an elegance that cannot help but cause people's attention to be drawn to Him and His power. Ask. Trust.



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

October 7, 2011


A Charming and Graceful Spirit
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 2:15--17

Esther modeled a kind winsomeness, regardless of her surroundings.


And Esther found favor in the eyes of all who saw her. So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal palace in the tenth month which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. (Esther 2:15b--17)

Clearly, Esther had something about her that caused everyone to "favor" her, from the king to the women in the harem who were competing against her for his attention and affections. I think she must have had a winsomeness about her. Webster says winsomeness is "being pleasant, delightful, attractive in a sweet, engaging way." A person who is winsome draws you to him or to her. We are intrigued by that person's charming and gracious spirit.

In the past, I have shared the traits of Esther with my own beloved daughters, hoping that they will not only think about them but cultivate them. And it's with the same sense of care that I share these things with you, because I personally believe they are more needed than ever in our environment of insecurity and sensuality.



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


October 6, 2011

Modesty and Authenticity
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 2:12--14

Esther exhibited an unselfish modesty and authenticity. Think of it: no job, no responsibility, no cooking, no clean-up, no washing, no ironing, no errands, no budget-watching, no holding back in any area. Imagine! Pampered and indulged, in this self-centered harem of Persia, all of the emphasis rests upon her becoming a woman of greater physical beauty. Jewelry, clothing, perfumes, cosmetics, whatever she wishes, from coiffure to pedicure, are hers. The only thing on everyone's mind is to win this contest---to please the king and gain his favor.

Remember, at this time Esther cannot be more than twenty years old or so, and she could have been even younger. This is a chance of a lifetime for her to have whatever she wishes. Instead, she remains true to what she has been taught and abides by the counsel of Mordecai, believing that he knows what's best for her. She does not succumb to the temptation around her---the superficiality, the selfishness, the seduction, the self-centeredness. She displays an unselfish modesty, an authenticity, amid unparalleled extravagance.

As ironic as that may sound, I think that most Christian women do not use cosmetics to appear false or become other than who they are. The women we admire use cosmetics to subtly enhance the natural beauty that is already there. I'm sure that was true of Esther.

Frankly, I'm convinced that Esther went in to the king without fear because she had no driving ambition to be queen. Her life didn't revolve around her physical appearance or making a king happy. She was there for one reason: because she knew that the hand of God was on her life, and through circumstances and Mordecai's wisdom, she had been brought to this place for a reason. To use one of my favorite expressions, she had her stuff together. She knew where she was coming from. She knew who she was. She knew what she believed. And she knew that God's hand was on her life. If it was His pleasure that she be here, if it was part of His plan, then she would willingly accept it. If not, she would willingly relinquish it. She was modest about her own person, and she was authentic.

Can you say the same thing about yourself? After all, God's hand is on your life too.



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

October 5, 2011

Servant-Hearted Leaders
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 2:10--20

Esther sustained a continually teachable spirit. "Mordecai had instructed her that she should not make them known . . . Esther had not yet made known her kindred or her people, even as Mordecai had commanded her, for Esther did what Mordecai told her as she had done when under his care" (Esther 2:10, 20).

Even becoming a finalist in this frenzied competition, or later, becoming queen, didn't cause Esther to flaunt her independence and strut her stuff. Not this lady! This lovely, dignified, wise woman was still willing to listen and learn.

She remains a sterling example for women today. Some of you are wonderfully gifted teachers. You have the ability to stand before a group and to open the Scriptures or some other area of expertise and hold an audience in rapt attention with your insight and creativity. Others of you have distinguished yourself in public service. You have played prestigious roles and offices in the community. You may be well-traveled and rather confidently move in exclusive circles with powerful men and women whom you know on a first-name basis. There is nothing wrong with any of that. But let me ask, has that changed your teachability? Do you now see yourself as the consummate authority? Or has it simply made you aware of how vast your ignorance really is? I hope it is the latter.

Someone has said, "Education is going from an unconscious to conscious awareness of one's ignorance." I agree. No one has a corner on wisdom. All the name-dropping in the world doesn't heighten the significance of your character. If anything, it reduces it. Our acute need is to cultivate a willingness to learn and to remain teachable. Learning from your children. Learning from your friends. Learning even from our enemies. How beautiful it is to find a servant-hearted, teachable spirit among those who occupy high-profile positions of authority.

Are you, like Esther, still willing to listen and learn?



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

October 4, 2011

Strength and Dignity
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 2:8--11

Esther exhibited a grace-filled charm and elegance. In this verse, the literal translation of the original language says, "She lifted up grace before his face." Isn't that a beautiful expression? Though she was brought to the harem and participated in these things reluctantly, Esther did not display a sour attitude. I'm convinced she sensed God's hand in her situation. Why else would she have been there? Finding herself unable to say no, Esther modeled grace before the face of the king's influential servant, Hegai. What a difference between Esther and all the other women around her. Her inner qualities could not be ignored. They, in fact, captured the attention of the king's servant.

Esther exhibited an unusual restraint and control. She told no one she was Jewish. Why? Because that is what Mordecai instructed her to do. Not even the head-spinning, Himalayan heights of the harem could tempt her to break her covenant with Mordecai.

God has given women an air of mystery. This is something, quite candidly, men don't have. We are a pretty predictable bunch. Yet how often I have heard a man say, "I just don't know how to figure her out. I just don't understand." For example, a woman will say, "What I need is a good cry." My friend, in all of my life I have never experienced a good cry. My wife knows them. Other women in our family know them. But it's a mystery to men. I'm honest; I've never been able to figure out how you can feel good after crying.

There is an unexplainable air of mystery about a woman, an unpredictability that men find intriguing. Esther's ability to restrain herself only heightens the mystery---especially her verbal restraint. She knew much more than she told. She could keep a secret.

Verbal restraint is fast becoming a forgotten virtue. Thanks to tell-all tabloids and hide-nothing television talk shows, nothing is restrained. When was the last time anyone in the media blushed? Yet restraint and control always work in your favor. Learn to keep confidences. Come to be known for keeping secrets! It's part of having character marked by strength and dignity.

Then, perhaps, you too can lift up grace before His face.



Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.