“When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand.” — Esther 5:2 (ESV)
She walked in. And he held out the sceptre.
The text does not dramatise this moment. It does not describe Esther’s fear as she stepped through the doorway. It does not detail the king’s expression as he noticed the movement in the court. It simply says she came to the inner court, the king saw her, she found favour in his sight, and the golden sceptre was extended. Three days of fasting. A decision made in the presence of uncertainty. And then: the sceptre.
But what follows is equally instructive. The king’s first question was not: why have you come without being summoned? His first question was: what is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to half the kingdom. The tone is not judicial. It is generous. It is almost as though, in the moment she walked in, the king was already disposed to give her whatever she asked.
This is the texture of divine favour again. Esther walked into a situation where the legal outcome should have been death. Instead, she was welcomed, offered abundance, and invited to ask for anything up to half the kingdom. The favour preceded her request. It was already in the room waiting for her.
Notice also what Esther asked for first. Not the deliverance of her people. A dinner. She asked the king and Haman to come to a banquet she had prepared. Commentators have speculated about this for centuries. Was she building relational capital? Was she waiting for the right moment? Was she still unsure? Whatever her reason, there is wisdom in the timing, in not rushing the most important ask before the relational ground was fully prepared.
Today, consider the thing you are about to ask for. Have you walked in? Have you taken the first step in the presence of uncertainty? The sceptre is extended to those who come. And perhaps the first ask is not the final one. Sometimes the dinner comes before the rescue.
Prayer
Father, I thank you that favour precedes the request. Give me the courage to walk in, and the wisdom to trust your timing for what I ask when I get there. You are already in the room. In Jesus’ name, amen.
