You can’t find better stories anywhere. And wait till you see the story behind the story. It’s electric!
Here were the raw facts. Esther needed to see the king. No one approached the king without his invitation. But Esther couldn’t wait. What was the way forward? Here’s the time-tested maxim: “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” It seemed to be the only road open to her. So it was “on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne” (Est 5:1). Oh, and the other maxim that “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” didn’t hurt either! “So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter” (v 2). This is heart-stopping action, isn’t it? Aren’t you grateful we don’t have to go through this every time we need to talk to our King? The scepter He was appropriately given at His trial was a broken reed, and no bruised soul is ever turned away from Him. But listen! “And the king said to her, ‘What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you—up to half the kingdom!’” (v 3). By the way, our King has given us the whole thing (Lk 12:32)! But the queen’s request is very modest in response. Dinner for two—Xerxes and Haman—in her palace quarters was all she asked. That had to strike the king as odd. Was Haman the chaperone? But they came to the banquet and…and what? The king knew this couldn’t just be a social call. What did Esther really want? “My petition and request is this,” she said (Est 5:7): another banquet tomorrow, and THEN she would tell the king the desire of her heart. She’s pushing the limits, isn’t she?