“… God turned the curse into a blessing.” (Nehemiah 13:2b)
Recently I read the story of Queen Esther, which took place in what is present-day Iraq about 450 years before Jesus. Three characters make the story unforgettable: the queen; Mordecai, her older cousin who cared for Esther as a daughter after her mother and father’s death; and Haman, their enemy.
Haman was prime minister, second only to King Ahasuerus (Xerxes).
As the story unfolds, the reader discovers Haman, who is obsessed with hatred for the Jews, manipulating the king and convincing him they must be annihilated.
Lots are cast and the day of the genocide set.
When Mordecai receives the news, he wails in agony. He rips off his clothes, puts on sackcloth and begins to fast.
Mordecai has hit the low point of his life.
When I read this, I think of Tiger Woods.
When was his low point? He has had many.
Was it when his father Earl died? Was it during the humiliation of his highly publicized sex scandal? Or when he was arrested and handed a DUI?
More likely it was that day during the span of his 22 injuries when he thought, I may never play golf again.
Mordecai believed God during his low point. He believed God would save the Jews, with or without Queen Esther’s help, and sent her that message.
The story gallops to a thundering end when Esther unmasks Haman’s manipulation of the king before the king’s eyes. And the king, in rage, sentences Haman to death on the gallows Haman had built for Mordecai.
The author of the story concludes with the curse upon Mordecai and the Jews catapulted to blessing. The day Haman is hanged, Mordecai rises to the place second only to the king but with even greater honor than Haman had possessed.
This year we saw Tiger make one of the greatest comebacks of all time in any sport, capturing the Tour Championship. Had the tournament ended on the 71st hole, he would have also won the FedExCup.
Atlanta fans applauded his victory, as did the world press.
Was there some key to Tiger’s comeback?
Even Tiger himself might not know the answer to this question fully.
But we do know from the story of Mordecai, etched forever in God’s Word, that our God is in the business of transforming a horrendous low into a high. It is not the course he always chooses, but it is something we can pray for, as Mordecai did. We can seek the intervention of the Lord.
Then we may see him take a stumbling block and make it a stepping stone.
Take a curse and turn it into a blessing.
—
Jim Hiskey
October 17, 2018
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