Esther was finally chosen as the Queen. While her title changed, her character did not! She could have easily thought to herself: ” I don’t need anyone’s advice anymore; others should be seeking my advise. I am the Queen, and the only one who is worthy to give me advice is the King. ” On the contrary, she remained teachable and submitted as we see in the scriptures.
And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:13-14
When Mordecai sent her the above message, she took Mordecai’s message very seriously. Esther knew it was time for action. This action was much weightier than anything she had ever done before. This could cost her life! In the past God had used Mordecai and Hegai to counsel her. This time though, the Lord was thrusting her into a new dimension. He was going to be her advisor. She had to rely on Him to guide her step by step through such a delicate and fragile situation!
When we truly have a teachable attitude, we don’t lose the desire to learn from others regardless of how high God takes us. We have the humility to realize that we don’t know everything. This causes us to make ourselves available to learn from whomever God places in our lives. More importantly, we learn that God’s rulership trumps anything else. We are totally and utterly dependent on Him to give us instruction to navigate through life!
Being teachable can be particularly challenging for those who are in leadership positions. Leaders generally have an answer/solution to other people’s problems. As a result, they can have a tendency to stay in a position of counseling other people but not allow themselves to receive good counsel from those who aren’t their colleagues.
As we have seen over the last few devotionals, God used variety of methods to train His people and move them in the direction of fulfilling His purpose in their lives. What is amazing about God is that His training is so custom-made that it will not match the methods He is using on our siblings, our coworkers, or even our spouse. It’s important to stay sensitive to His spirit, so we can stay on track with His specific training for our lives.
Lord thank you for your unique training methods. We desire to be shaped by the training you have for us regardless of the person or the circumstance that you use to bring it to our lives. Amen.
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