The Favor of the King
By Shauna Leis
“And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. She was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the tenth month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.”
Esther 2:15b-17
Last year, God had me camped in the book of Esther for close to a month learning more and more about her and all that she went through. The entire story of Esther is fascinating, especially from the perspective that God’s name is never directly mentioned in the book; yet, one can see the weavings of God throughout the entire story line. And through this young girl’s eyes, we see that she is power under control. She truly knows how to use all that God has given her in such a way that people loved her – men and women alike.
But, the most captivating part of the story is what is captured in the Scriptures above. The odds were certainly against Esther from the beginning. She was a Jew living in the land of Persia so she was really a stranger in a strange land. She was an orphan – so she had no family lineage to speak of in a competition for heritage. And she was raised by her older male cousin Mordecai – do we even need to say more? She had nothing to take with her when she was whisked away to star in the beauty pageant of the century – no heritage with the land, no heritage of her family, and no heritage of learning from older women.
In the midst of all this though, in several different locations, we learn that Esther found favor with those who were around her. Hegai, the king’s eunuch, was the first to determine there was just something different about Esther. Esther 2:9 says, “The girl pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven maids selected from the king’s palace and moved her and her maids into the best place in the harem.” Hegai wanted Esther to succeed – not because of who she was or what she had – but just because of how she was with other people.
As you read in verse 15, she won the favor of everyone around her. Have you ever been around someone like this? This person is beautiful inside and out, and you have this overwhelming desire to help her succeed. Even if it means taking yourself out of the running, you are willing to do it because you know this other person is so much better than you are for the task ahead. My guess is after reading this passage, the other women in the harem knew that Esther had something special and did not feel that badly when she succeeded.
In verse 17 above, we learn that Esther also won the favor of the most important man on the earth. The King James Version says, “And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti.” According to the Gesenius Lexicon, the Hebrew word for favor here is “chen” meaning “grace, favor, goodwill, to find favor in the eyes of someone, to be acceptable to him.” Esther was acceptable to the king, and he loved her more than any of the others brought to him to be queen.
Now, parallel this over to another use of the same word in the Old Testament. Genesis 6:8 says, “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” Noah was acceptable to God, even when all those around him were not acceptable. When God was on the warpath against humanity because of their heinous sins, one single man found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Noah and his family received grace from God because of this favor and saved humanity from being completely extinguished from the face of the earth.
Precious friend, as much as I hate to admit it, I have sought the favor of men and women here on earth. I have longed to hear them praise me for all of my accomplishments and be acceptable in their sight. I have longed to find favor with them. However, it all pales in comparison to my longing to be acceptable in the eyes of my Almighty God and Father in heaven. Oh, how I crave each and every day to hear those blessed words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” The praise of men and women will come and go for me in my life, but the acceptance of the God who created the entire universe will never change.
That acceptance from God is also not dependent on me and how many beauty treatments I have had, or what my family history is like, or how feminine I have learned how to be throughout the years. The only thing that affects God’s acceptance of me is my accepting His Son Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. Dear one, we have talked about this before, and there is only one way to God the Father which is through Jesus the Son. So, what about you? Are you looking to find favor with men and women, or do you want to find favor with the King? He stands waiting for you with open arms to welcome you into His family. You, too, can be a daughter of the Most High God. Will you run to Him today and seek His favor?
Pray with me: Oh God, how we love You, and we adore You. You are our God, and we want to run into the safety of Your arms to find love and acceptance, and especially we seek Your favor. We no longer want to be wooed by the powers of this world, seeking favor from men and women, because Yours is the only opinion that counts. Lord, fill us up with Your Holy Spirit to overflowing so that we can find our identity in You and You alone. God, we love You so very much and pray all of this in the name above all names, Jesus Christ! Amen.