Stand in the Gap

Esther clutched the smooth back of the chair. Hathach was awaiting her reply to Mordecai's instructions. The lump in her gut made its way up her throat, and she could taste the bile in her mouth. Mordecai was asking her to go before the king and plead for their peoples' lives.

"I can't." She whispered to Hathach

____________________________________

Mordecai rubbed his dirty face. Esther was scared, he got that. He knew the law. He knew the king's moods were unpredictable, especially with his henchmen always giving their opinions. However, that didn't matter. Mordecai could see it. He knew Esther was God's key to their deliverance. She just needed to follow His will.

But what if she won't go to the king's court? The thought terrified Mordecai. He rubbed his forehead, using his thumb to apply extra pressure to his temple. All would be lost. 

No! He would not allow this to sway him.

"Hathach, please tell Queen Esther that she will not be safe in the king's palace while her people are murdered." He locked eyes with the servant, as if staring into his eyes would convey Mordecai's message all the stronger to Esther. "You will not escape any more then the others just because you are queen. On the contrary, if you won't go to the king, God will raise up deliverance somewhere else, but you will surely perish." Mordecai's voice broke at the thought. "My dear Esther, consider that maybe Yahweh put you in this kingdom for such a time as this. Walk in Yahweh's path, or deny Him. The choice is ultimately yours."

____________________________________

Mordecai paced back and forth along the wall. He kept the king's gate in his view hoping Hathach would appear with a message from Esther soon. Hours had gone by and it was now dusk. He was trying not to take that as a bad sign.

He had done all he could do. He had called out the cowardliness. He had stood in the gap for her fear and doubt. He had offered the glimmer he had of God's plan for Esther's encouragement. Could he have done more?

Hathach stepped through the gate, and strode towards him. Mordecai held his breath; the following words could make or break his heart. Stopping close enough to prevent prying ears from hearing their conversation, Hathach...smiled. "Queen Esther has asked that you gather all the Jews you can find, and fast day and night, for three days. She and her maidens will do the same. At the end of the three days, she will go before the king, and if she perishes, then she perishes. But she will go."

Based on Esther 4:4-17

Before Esther rocked these stands, she had some doubt, some worry, some fear. In order to help her overcome that, God provided Mordecai to stand in the gap for her.

Think about what Mordecai was saying to her. He had raised Esther like a daughter, and he basically said that if she denied God and followed the cowards way, then she would perish. God would find someone else. Then he offered her courage to follow God's way. Truth that God had picked her and put her here for a reason. These were things Esther needed to hear, but they must have been difficult for Mordecai to say.

Mordecai said what God needed Esther to hear. Mordecai stood in that gap and spoke God's words. That's not an easy job to do.

Sometimes God will call us to stand in the gap for someone. There may be chinks in their armor that need covering. They may need prayer and intercession. They may need to be called on the carpet. But God needs His people to be willing to stand in that gap and speak His words.

We view this chapter as Esther's big stand, but for such a time, Mordecai was also put in that kingdom. To stand and speak on God's behalf is a weighty, difficult, lonely, and scary position. But it's a stand the Body of Christ needs to rise into wholeheartedly.

"And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none." Ezekiel 22:30