Wait Grace Null Crowell If but one message I may leave behind, One single word of courage for my kind, It would be this, oh brother, sister, friend. Whatever life may bring, what God may send— No matter whether clouds lift soon or late— Take heart and wait! Despair may tangle darkly at your feet, Your faith be dimmed, and hope, once cool and sweet Be lost—but suddenly, above a hill, A heavenly lamp, set on a heavenly sill, Will shine for you and point the way to go— How well I know! For I have waited through the dark and I Have seen a star rise in the blackest sky, Repeatedly—it has not failed me yet. And I have learned, God never will forget To light His lamp. If we but wait for it— It will be lit! ~~~~ Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. Ps. 27:14

 

What is a servant’s heart? This question can best be answered by a look at our Master’s life. Jesus came to earth, leaving the glories of Heaven and life with the Father to serve us. He lived it out every day in a very practical way, perhaps just so that you and I can understand and see the reality in the call to serve. First, He obeyed the Father. “I must do the will of Him that sent me.” Jesus implicitly carried out every order in loving obedience. He could never have done this without communion with His Father. We follow Him as He spent time alone in prayer and meditation after especially busy and trying times. Why? So that He could know the will of His Father which was in Heaven. Then, filled with the fullness of the Spirit, He would go out and serve some more, just pouring Himself out for others. He could never have served so untiringly if He had not been in touch with God. Finally, He returned all the glory and praise to the Father which sent Him.

Part 1
Vashti - the foolish plucketh down her house with her hands.

And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not. Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath. If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she. And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small. And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan: For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and that it should be published according to the language of every people.
(Est 1:16-22)

These words were written after an ungodly, fierce, drunk king ordered his queen to be paraded before many other drunk nobles to brag with her. Yet the wisdom of Memucan rings the same clear bell as in the new testament where Paul exhorts Titus regarding the ministry of the aged women: 

 

Again He says, “Love is the fulfillment of the law.” Did you ever think what He meant by that? In those days, men were working hard to earn their passage to Heaven by keeping the Ten Commandments and the 110 commandments that they had manufactured out of the Ten. Christ came and said, “I will show you a more simple way. If you do that one thing, you will do all these 110 without ever thinking about them. If you love, you will unconsciously fulfill the whole law.” You can readily see for yourselves how that must be so. Take any of the commandments. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” If a man loves God, you will not need to tell him that. Love is the fulfilling of that law. “Do not take God’s name in vain.” Would a man ever dream of taking His name in vain if he really loved God? Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Would he not be too glad to have one day in seven to dedicate more exclusively to the object of his affection? … You would never dream of urging him not to covet what his neighbor had. He would rather they possessed it than himself. In this way, “love is the fulfilling of the law.” It is the rule for fulfilling all law, the new commandment for keeping the old commandment, Christ’s one secret of the Christian life.

Read more: The Heart of the Matter

• Created on 12 October 2009.

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