“Some time later King Xerxes promoted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite over all the other nobles, making him the most powerful official in the empire”
(Esther 3:1).
I’m sure you played musical chairs at a party. Two people aren’t allowed to sit on the same chair.
In this case, Xerxes sat on the throne, and he had given Haman a chair in which, from what we read, he was pretty special and he was given certain authority. Everyone knelt before Haman, but that wasn’t enough for him. Mordecai didn’t, and that infuriated him.
How do we feel when something or someone gets in the way of what we think is best? How do we react when we can’t manipulate circumstances and people the way we want? What runs through our mind when God’s plans, someone’s answer, or a mishap goes against our “better” knowledge? Who’s sitting on the throne of our heart?
Every day the king’s servants asked Mordecai why he disobeyed the king’s order. Every day Mordecai made the decision to place God on the throne of his heart, It wasn’t enough for Haman to capture Mordecai, he planned to destroy all the Jews in the kingdom (one of the many results of living for pride).
By contrast, in Esther 6:1 to 12 we clearly see one of the results of having God on the throne. God isn’t mentioned in the book, but we see Him acting in a marvelous way. If God is on the throne of your heart, there won’t be room for anyone else and the results will speak for themselves.
May your pride not fill you with anger or take over a chair that’s not even a throne, like the one Xerxes gave Haman. May the prince of this world not sell you false power. In every corner of your heart, may there be a leg of the throne in which the King of the universe can sit each day.
If we have to ask for forgiveness, lower our heads and yield, let’s do so. Some people will wonder why we’re kneeling to the powers of this world, people will be watching us to see who we serve. Who’s on the throne?
