Daily PresenceSample

“Control your temper, for anger labels you a fool.” Ecclesiastes 7:9. Not only is this a heavily convicting verse, it warns us against the behavior of Xerxes in the first five chapters of Esther. The King is slighted by his queen by her refusing to come when he calls. This seems like a silly thing to get angry over, much less to divorce your wife and send a national decree demanding women obey their husbands or else – labeled a fool indeed.

In the second chapter, it states that once the King’s anger subsided, he began to reflect on the decision he made while drunk. I take this to mean that the King, even this prideful selfish tyranny had a feeling of guilt set in. Yet, as we continue along, we see that poor counsel ruins an opportunity for redemption. How often does conviction fall upon us only to be thwarted by the peanut gallery?

I once had a friend send me a message admitting to a pretty serious offense against me. As I was reading it, an acquaintance sat reading over my shoulder. “Don’t think. Just send back exactly how you feel.” Talk about some of the worst advice I’ve ever gotten! If I would have responded in that exact moment, I would have chosen to clothe myself in anger rather than in empathy. Weather rather than mercy. Although we cannot avoid others treating us poorly, we cannot expect to see change in our world if we are not willing to live like Christ.

Xerxes shows us that pride quickly snowballs us into a situation we never saw coming; a situation that could have been avoided if only we displayed the humility to admit our faults or swallow our pride. Although there is much to learn from the errors of King Xerxes, let us focus on this one thing: God speaks in a still small voice. It is our choice whether to heed his counsel, or to seek our pound of flesh.