Worst To First

There are some great comebacks in history. In sports there have been teams that were in last place the year before to comeback and win a championship. There are companies who were in last place among their competition and they reorganized, rebranded, intensely marketed themselves and came back from worst to first. I love a good comeback story.

Mordecai went from being a person who say nears the king’s gate (aka “gate sitter”) to second in command within a two-day period. The day that the king honored Mordecai was the same day Haman was called out for his planned destruction of the queen’s people. Haman went from first in the kings ranking to last – he was hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai. Things changed quickly. Check this out…

1 That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. 2 The king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.

15 When Mordecai left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration. 16 For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. 17 In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them. (Esther 8:1-2; 15-17 NIV)

Throughout biblical history, the Lord watched over His people with great care. He did allow them to be punished. He always heard their cry for mercy and grace. He rescued them again from a young orphan girl from Susa province and her uncle. They were not royal lineage, but certainly obedient to the opportunity the Lord had put before them. There was great risk, but there was also great reward in obediently walking in faith.

I believe that as I’m walking out my faith in God, I need to worry less about my rank and keep cultivating obedience inside my heart. I need to keep steady and serve Him and let Him worry about ranking. I remember Jesus saying, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Matthew 20:16 NIV) I need to be more concerned with His Presence in me than my position of rank among my competition.

Pressing On!

Dwayne