Christian Devotional – October 22, 2020

Pageant Queen with a Purpose, #5

The pageant. And, really, only one judge and one person whose opinion matters. Read Esther 2:1-4.

After these things when the anger of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her. Then the king’s attendants, who served him, said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king. Let the king appoint overseers in all the provinces of his kingdom that they may gather every beautiful young virgin to the citadel of Susa, to the harem, into the custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women; and let their cosmetics be given them. Then let the young lady who pleases the king be queen in place of Vashti.” And the matter pleased the king, and he did accordingly.
Esther 2:1‭-‬4 NASB
https://bible.com/bible/100/est.2.1-4.NASB

The question becomes, how to replace the queen? So the wise men come through again. They make the suggestion to hold something similar to a pageant. All the eligible women will be forced to participate and then it will come down to who pleases the king the most.

What a change for the lives of so many women! They were uprooted from their homes and brought to live in the palace for the sole purpose of pleasing the king, all for just one night.

I’m sure many of them looked at this as though their lives were completely altered. Some were probably pleased and excited. Some were probably angry. Either way, they didn’t get a choice.

Many of the things that happen in our lives are the result of someone else’s choice, not our own. God is still in control, even when other people are making choices that affect us. We can still know that nothing happens to us that is outside of his hand.

This may have been an unusual situation, but it wasn’t a surprise to God. God was still in control, even with the most unusual beauty pageant ever! And, he’s still in control in our lives.