Monday 19 Mar 2012

Monday Reading: Esther 1:10-22

Key Verse: Esther 1:12
12  But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.

Devotion:
When we see or hear about some of the latest advertisements or soaps on TV we may be forgiven for thinking that this sort of thing is quite normal – and the way the world is going it may well be promoted as being normal; but Queen Vashti was caught between a rock and a hard place. If she had agreed to come before the king and parade herself then what would become of her when he sobered up? If she refused then what would happen to her before he sobered up?

Sadly we see far too much of this sort of scenario being played out in everyday life between couples and even with friends. People give way to temptations of one kind or another which leads to inappropriate behaviour which leads to someone being caught between the rock and the hard place. When we lose control in our lives, someone will have to pay for it. It may not be us that we seem to hurt at first, but you can bet that we are the ones who will have to put up with things for a long time to come.

Placing a partner into a corner where they cannot see a way out is nothing more than bullying or abuse. Whether you are the man or the woman we have not been taught to control the other half through abuse but rather to nurture them and love them. If you are worried that you will lose control of the situation if you go out and have a drink, then why go out and have that drink in the first place? If you know that you have weaknesses, surely the thing to do is to avoid them instead of going back to see if you are still weak! There are many things in our lives that are selfish and drinking too much is just one of those that nobody seems to see until they have broken everything in sight.

Our place in a relationship is to live with your partner as if they meant everything to you. God wants us to be secure and sure in any relationship and that includes our relationship with Him. We enter into that relationship when we invite Him into our lives. If we then go off and play the fool, who do you think is going to get hurt? First off you are playing the fool directly in His sight. Next you have damaged that relationship through your own actions and that means spending time fixing things and getting it all back together again – so instead of spending all your life trying to sort out the problems and seeking advice from all fronts, try starting off in the right direction to begin with – walk with God!

Points to Ponder:
Do you break things more than fix them?

Are you walking with God or running from Him?