Based on Esther 2:1-18 (New King James Version)
“After these things, when the wrath of King Ahasuerus subsided, he remembered Vashti, what she had done, and what had been decreed against her. Then the king’s servants who attended him said: ‘Let beautiful young virgins be sought for the king; and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather all the beautiful young virgins to Shushan the citadel, into the women’s quarters, under the custody of Hegai the king’s eunuch, custodian of the women. And let beauty preparations be given them. Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.’ This thing pleased the king, and he did so. In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. Kish had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captives who had been captured with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away. And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. So it was, when the king’s command and decree were heard, and when many young women were gathered at Shushan the citadel, under the custody of Hegai, that Esther also was taken to the king’s palace, into the care of Hegai the custodian of the women. Now the young woman pleased him, and she obtained his favor; so he readily gave beauty preparations to her, besides her allowance. Then seven choice maidservants were provided for her from the king’s palace, and he moved her and her maidservants to the best place in the house of the women. Esther had not revealed her people or family, for Mordecai had charged her not to reveal it. And every day Mordecai paced in front of the court of the women’s quarters, to learn of Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her. Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months’ preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women. Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever she desired to take with her from the women’s quarters to the king’s palace. In the evening she went, and in the morning she returned to the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s eunuch who kept the concubines. She would not go in to the king again unless the king delighted in her and called for her by name. Now when the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go in to the king, she requested nothing but what Hegai the king’s eunuch, the custodian of the women, advised. And Esther obtained favor in the sight of all who saw her. So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. Then the king made a great feast, the Feast of Esther, for all his officials and servants; and he proclaimed a holiday in the provinces and gave gifts according to the generosity of a king.”
The book of Esther tells us very interesting historical facts, real events that happened in the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians, the most powerful kingdom in the world at its time. And in the book of Esther, we see that something that uneducated people would probably see as simple and unimportant, especially considering today’s mentality. What had occurred is that Queen Vashti challenged King Ahasuerus, without any reason, but only out of haughtiness and pride, because apparently, she took advantage of the king's good will towards her and treated him as a weakling for the kindness he had towards her. This issue was not a simple matter because any sign of weakness at that time in such authority would not only interfere with the kingdom internally, but also with its established power. At that time, any sign of weakness from the king could even encourage enemies to attack. So, this supposed couples’ problem (as it would be seen today) could have been a disaster where thousands upon thousands would have died, if the king had not reacted wisely to the inexcusable arrogance of a woman. Injustice and foolishness have consequences.
However, there are many times that things that we see as bad can lead to good things to happen, but it all depends on how we react to those circumstances. A bad can give way to a good. And this is not a matter of positive thinking, or psychology, because our thoughts or dispositions do not determine reality. In other words, our opinion does not control reality as many think. The universe does not obey our opinion, but rather, it is governed by Someone much greater than us, by God. I know there is a lot of talk about the fact that our opinions do not control reality, but it is a very common evil, especially today. As an example, Queen Vashti thought that her arrogance and haughtiness would have no consequences, but they did. She was replaced, because the wise king was not going to allow himself to be dominated by his queen and risk possible internal problems, much less risk the well-being of his kingdom. So, evil gave way to something good, it led to Vashti being replaced by a superior woman and the king managed to gain a worthy and excellent queen, a woman who would not weaken his kingdom, but would rather help it prosper even more, and make it an even more just kingdom. And so, God used this event to bring good not only to a woman who was an orphan (Esther also suffered great losses as a child), but He used it to do good to Mordecai, to all the people of Israel within the kingdom, and also to the kingdom of King Ahasuerus. So, this evil gave way to much good.
What do we learn from this? That when bad things happen, they can lead to better things, to things we wouldn't even imagine. But, it all depends not necessarily on what we think, but rather, on who we trust. If we trust God, and follow Him, God can turn even the most painful things into great and even eternal things. For example, the disciples did not understand before the Lord died that such a sacrifice had to happen, for the good of them and of all humanity. God took eternal advantage out of the horror of the cross, because through His death He gives us the opportunity to have eternal life. From the most horrendous sacrifice in all of history, that God Himself died for man, came life, healing, and eternal glory. In my own life, many evils happened at a very young age. Everything I knew and was precious to me was being destroyed, and there was nothing I could do about it. But God in His great mercy appeared in my life and gave me the opportunity to know Him through His gospel, and I was able to make that decision to cling to Him and make Him the Lord of my life. And from those evils came my greatest blessing: eternal life with an eternal purpose, because that is what the Lord does when we take Him as such. The cross of Christ also produced life in me. If you have difficulty, pain, and despair due to bad things that have happened to you, take that opportunity that is being given to you to seek God, and make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life so that you too can turn your evils into introductions to the good that only Almighty God can give through the Lord Jesus Christ. So, are you seeking the Lord to turn your evils into good, or do you seek to solve them in your own way so that you continue from bad to worse, hating your own soul? Lord bless! John