THE ILLUSION
“If the king regards me with favor and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and fulfill my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the banquet I will prepare for them. Then I will answer the king’s question,” Esther said. Haman went out that day happy and in high spirits. Esther 5: 8-9
Throughout the Old Testament, God raised up one prophet after another who supernaturally discerned a person’s sin and was then sent by God to address them. For the one who had erred, his life shattered. The illusion of all being well dissipated into thin air.
I remember when Nathan came to King David after his sin with Bathsheba and confronted him about his adultery. The altercation pierced the false sense of David’s well being. Psalm 51 was David’s response.
Haman, a different kind of man, was also ultimately revealed. At this point in the story however, he was in high spirits. He believed he was secure in his place of leadership. Everything appeared to be going his way as evidenced by a private invitation to the queen’s banquet. His seemingly bright future was really a house of cards about to crumble.
When I sin, Satan is also eager to make sure I am also rewarded with the illusion of well-being. It would appear to me that I have never been more invincible, that I’ve gotten away with something and have escaped accountability. How I see myself is the exact opposite of what an intuitive servant of God sees. They know that I am perched in a precarious position. They may try to tell me that my life hangs in the balance if there’s not a course correction that begins with repentance.
So here’s the thing. I am only as strong as my ability to stand before God with no pretenses.
There is a barometer for spirituality. If I live in sin, I live in peril. I am only as strong as the person whose voice I obey. I choose You, Jesus. Amen
Originally published Monday, 22 April 2019.
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