Lesson 24: The Queen’s choice

Read Esther 7

Queen Esther had a hard decision to make. Her fear may truly have been that if she chose to enter the king’s presence and he rejected her, her mission to save her people from death would have failed. If she died, then who could ask the king to save her people? Another problem was, once a decree was made by the king there was no way it could be revoked. What could she possibly ask of the king that could make any difference to her people?

Often we also see only two choices while we are in trouble. We must have a job, or we will starve. We must get a good education, or we will never have a good job. If we are not healthy, then we must have sin in our life so God is punishing us. The Bible is full of accounts where God provided a different answer than what the people had considered.

The people of Israel, traveling through the desert, were without water. They probably thought their only options were to dig a well or die of thirst. God’s answer was for Moses to strike a rock, and water gushed from it, to more than satisfy the needs of these millions of people (Exodus 17:1-7).

A city had been under siege from an enemy army so long that no more food remained in the city. The people thought their only choices were to surrender to the enemy or die of starvation. God’s answer was to chase the enemy army away, leaving all the food they had for themselves so the people had plenty of food to eat (2 Kings 17).


The disciples of Jesus were in a boat when a terrible storm came. They thought they had no choice; they were all about to die. Jesus calmed the winds and the waves with a single command (Mark 4:35-41).

Queen Esther chose to believe God would provide another answer besides the choices she could see. She chose to risk her life for the lives of her people, and stepped into the presence of the king without official permission to do so. She dressed in the best clothes she had – those provided by the king. She went to the doorway where the king could see her.

God’s answer to her choice was to give the king a love for her which made him reach out to her with the golden scepter of grace – her life was spared. She stepped forward and touched the tip of his scepter, acknowledging to him that she knew she was there by his permission alone and openly accepting his grace.

*When God provides another answer to your problem than you thought possible, what is your response to Him?