The Book of Esther is one of the Old Testament Books where we don’t find the word “God” in it but we see God almost in every chapter, God ushering Himself in the middle of the story.

It is the Book of the Bible I love the most, I think, because I am a woman and that book is all about The Woman (the Bride of Christ). I love Esther very much. We can learn a lot from her.

Before I show you the one of the lessons I learned from this book, let me give you a short background story of this book.

Okay, so the search is going on to find a woman the king likes (please read the whole book when you get a chance so you know why and how the king lost his wife, the queen). So, the king officials went out and brought all the beautiful girls to the palace. The one thing every woman knows once she enters the harem is that she can ask anything she wants and she can get it (Esther 2:13). There is no, “But that gold is expensive,” or “But that pearl is not for you.” She gets anything she asks for. I mean, anything! Can you just imagine that! I can’t. I mean, do I ask for a piece of gold or a diamond ring or pearl earrings, or a bottle of perfume or the shiny purple skirt or what? Crazy, isn’t it?

Listen what the Bible says:

“When the turn came for Esther (the young woman Mordecai had adopted, the daughter of his uncle Abihail) to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her.” (Esther 2:15)

Hold on a second! Does it say, Esther “asked for nothing?” Is she out of her mind?

No, she is not out of her mind. Actually she is very much “inside” her mind. Remember! She is the real deal kind of woman who says, “The King or nothing! Take all your toys with you,” kind of a girl! I love her!

Esther knows that her outer beauty is nothing unless it is “accentuated” by her hidden beauty, “the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” (1 Peter 3:4)

Esther was obedient to her “adopted father” (her uncle) and when she came to the harem, her gentle and quiet spirit continued thriving as she put herself under Hegai, the man who was in charge of all the women who came to the harem to be chosen to be the wife of the king.

Hegai, is the man to listen to because he knows what he is talking about. He knows the king in and out, what the king likes and not like. I mean, this real deal woman gave her obedience to him without any effort on her part. It is her lifestyle to be wise!

I can just imagine how the other “not-so-women” looked at Hegai – “the king slave; who wants to talk to him? Hey, get me that diamond cup; hey boy, bring him that silver shoes tomorrow,” looking at him with scorn and contempt, but not Esther.

This winsome character of Esther earned her “the favor of God!”

Listen the evidence of the favor of God on Esther, the woman who asked nothing “other than what Hegai, – – – suggested.”

“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.”

This is what is called “pure favor from above.”

Esther didn’t take what was legitimately hers. She just was not interested for the added bonuses. She put her eyes on the real deal, saying, “The king or nothing!” I love it!

And who, from all men or kings, could ignore that kind of beauty and glamour radiating out of a woman! Oops! I have to answer my own question, No man! ///