Prepared to Die - Lesson from the life of Esther

Esther was a young virgin, who because of the loss of her parents was brought up by a cousin as his daughter. This turn of events eventually led to her being selected as a young virgin to be considered for the next queen. She enjoys great favour and is chosen by the king. However, she had been previously warned to keep her ancestry private. A royal official named Haman takes a great dislike to her older cousin, Mordecai as he refuses to pay him homage and bow down whenever he sees him. It is discovered that Mordecai is a Jew and so Haman decides to take revenge on all the Jews in the king's territories. His plan back fires when Esther is challenged by her cousin to approach the king uninvited which is unlawful to. Esther employs her fellow Jews to fast for her and then decides to approach the king, at the risk of losing her life.. The plan pays off, and Esther divulges her ancestry and exposes Haman's plans to annihilate her people, which would include her too. Despite Haman's plans to persuade the king to put Mordecai to death, he in turn is executed on the same gallows that were meant for Mordecai. Esther and Mordecai are invited by the king to write a decree pertaining to all the Jews so they will be protected against the plans implemented to annihilate them. The Jews enjoyed victory over their enemies through out the land. Haman's sons are also killed and his property handed over to Esther, who puts her cousin in charge of it. Mordecai sends letter throughout the lands implementing an annual two days celebration in the month of Adar as a reminder of their triumph over their enemies.

There are some great lessons to learn from the life of Esther and we would do well to take a leaf out of her life story and trust God for our own victories whenever things seem as though they are totally against us.