Bibledoorajar Says Follow Your Path

"My calling is quite clear to me. What God will make of it I do not know....I must follow the path. Perhaps it will not be such a long one. (Phil. 1:23). But it is a fine thing to have realized my calling...I believe its nobility will become plain to us only in coming times and events. If only we can hold out."

                      Dietrich Bonhoeffer On Approaching Fears About the Nazis and the Church

Jacob had realized the path that he was on. Like Bonhoeffer, he was not sure how long or how difficult that path would be. He had done some things he knew to do and had prayed for God to help him. We can read the account of his prayer and know that his words were good, but only God can look on a servant's heart. Only God can see the path clearly. Jacob did the last thing he knew to do. He sent an emissary with a gift for Esau with the hopes that his men would present it with all humility. He went so far as to coach them as to how to present the gift. It is not a bad thing to try to make friends with someone who is angry with you and it is a good thing to be the emissary for the one offended.

Jesus humbly came to earth as an emissary for an offended God. He presented the gifts of God for three years and then He gave the greatest gift of all--His life. He handled being an emissary so well that God said He was well pleased with his representation of Him. The gift was accepted--job well done even though the path was extremely hard. A way had been made for you and me to live in peace with the Father. We can go home without fear. Thank you Father for a great emissary. Praise His name!

Bibledoorajar abhors Haman's hatred

"Even if you were to knock my head off, 

God would still exist."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Unless your faith is firm,

I cannot make you stand firm".

God in Isaiah 7:9

     We have been looking at the difference between Haman and Mordecai. We have seen that both men have obsessions of great magnitude. Haman lives and dreams of eradicating God's people, the Jews. Mordecai lives and dreams of God's people prospering. Haman trusts in himself and the occult and Mordecai trusts in Jehovah God. In Mordecai we see the human spirit uplifted and magnified. In Haman, the human spirit is shrunken by flaring hatred. Old wounds have festered for generations in his preoccupied family. 

     As a counselor, I was often called upon to try to help people who were nursing long held anger. We have all been angry and often for good reason. But long held anger usually manifest in all other types of problems and often does more damage to the one holding it than they realize. Like the comedian, Jim Labriola has said:

    "I thought I was giving the poison to them,

but all of a sudden I was drinking it!"

Haman's long held anger is spilling over everywhere. He is burdening his wife with it. She doesn't help him deal with the root of his anger which is his obsession that Mordecai refuses to bow down to him.  Instead, she suggests ways that he can channel his anger against Mordecai and still promote himself with the king. Her husband is screaming and yelling and apparently she feels the penalty would be too great if she challenged his anger at the root. They are both caught in the anger trap. Instead of helping her husband deal with his anger within himself, she explores ways he can express his anger externally with harm as its' goal. No insight there.

      This is the same anger our great enemy, Satan, has for Jesus. He simply cannot stand Him and goes to great lengths to recruit others to assist in harming Jesus or those that love Him. Fortunately, many  Christians have learned to recognize his ways and have learned helpful ways to stop him in his tracks.

And that's a good thing. Let's all be dedicated to helping each other find healthier ways to handle our anger. Like Bonhoeffer said, God is not going anywhere and if we have faith, He can help us stand firm for the right.