May God help us to choose His way, not the world’s way.
Esther 2:19-5:14; Revelation 3:7-22; Psalm 141:1-10
There are doors which can only be opened by God – “See, I have placed before you an open door that no-one can shut” (Revelation 3:8). There are doors which must be opened by man – “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). This is illustrated in the story of Esther. She became the Queen of Persia according to the sovereign purpose of God. God opened the door. Nevertheless, there were doors which had to be opened by Esther. As the Queen of Persia, she had to act in a wise and courageous way in order to carry out the purpose of God. In everything, we must say, with the Psalmist, “My eyes are fixed on You, O Sovereign Lord” (Psalm 141:8). This is not, however, to be the kind of heavenly-mindedness which makes us oblivious to what is going on around us. We must keep a close eye on events. We must direct our prayers towards the fulfilment of God’s purpose through the particular course of events which are taking place here-and-now. This is precisely what the Psalmist does. He sees what is happening, and he prays, “Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil” (Psalm 141:4). His “prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers” (Psalm 141:5-6). This, again, is a combination of God opening and closing doors – “What He opens no-one can shut and what He shuts no-one can open” (Revelation 3:7) – and ourselves opening and closing doors as, looking at what is going on around us, we choose God’s way rather than the world’s way. Concerning this opening and closing of doors, we say, “O Lord, keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3).
Charles Cameron, better known as Charlie to his friends, lives in Scotland and is a member of the Church of Scotland. He owns several Christian blogs found at the following links:
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
Thanks, Andy, for posting these notes. God bless you.