COURAGE TO SUBMIT

• DAY 184
• FEAR FILES: VASHTI
• SCRIPTURE: ESTHER 1

Queen Vashti also made a feast for the women in the royal palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus. On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown, in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful to behold. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs; therefore the king was furious, and his anger burned within him.

ESTHER 1:9-12

If you look at the book of Esther you will find a very influential Queen, Vashti. Queen Vashti was influential because she married one of the most influential men of her time. You could call him the king of kings(Lesser kings oh, because we know who the real King of Kings is). He ruled over a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. He was so influential and so wealthy that he threw parties just to show off the greatness, beauty, and splendor of his kingdom. So Queen Vashti was living the life. 

But in our text today, we see her as a failed queen because she did something that we do today in the 21st century and get away with. She said NO to her husband and king. If it were today she might be branded a feminist for not allowing her husband to show her off or use her as a prop, an arm candy. Definitely, the twisted feminist theory will tag her as a hero, a woman that knows her worth and self-esteem. But can we break it down a little bit and see how this woman failed as a queen? 

A Failed Queen

The king was throwing a party to show off the splendor of his kingdom he considered the beauty of his wife as part of it. The Bible records that she was beautiful to behold. She was someone that everybody would see and go wow! Ah, this woman is very beautiful. And so when he’s showing off everything beautiful in his kingdom, there is no way that he would have neglected her; she didn’t consider that. And maybe it’s just me, but if my husband calls me and says he wants to show me off to his friends, let alone the whole kingdom, I will gladly come out dressed very well, looking beautiful, and show up in all of my glory and all of my splendor so that they can go home and know that the king has the best woman in the entire universe.

Maybe Vashti didn’t think this way. She probably didn’t want to look like a trophy wife before the women she was hosting maybe she wanted to pull her own weight and her own rank, be her own woman. So, she said no to her husband in a very public and embarrassing way that put her at risk. 

Submission

Why is this topic in our Out of Fear devotional today? Because a lot of women today are too afraid to embrace their position as wives. They are more concerned about being strong and tough and proving to other women that they cannot be taken for a ride by any man. They want to prove a point to people more than they want to be submitted to God and that is the issue. They are afraid of how they will be seen if they do what they ought to do. that is fear of people and low self-esteem combined.

Today, we have people redefining what the parameters of submission are and so where they should simply say yes, we find a lot of people destroying their marriages and saying no. But women of faith are not like that, women of faith are courageous and bold enough that when you say come, they come, They understand that it doesn’t belittle them if they obey, listen and follow the instructions of their husband. They prefer to do things biblically. This is not an endorsement for a woman to lay herself to be abused by her spouse. We are talking about being submissive to your husband as God instructed.

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Ephesians 5:22-24

Can You Submit To Him?

When I was single, my pastors would always say this “never marry somebody that you don’t respect enough to submit to”. A lot of us are in relationships right now, and we know that if this man should tell us to go, we wouldn’t because we don’t trust his decision. We don’t want to be surrendered and submitted to him, yet we would agree to walk with him down the aisle. And then when we get into our marriages it becomes difficult for us to submit and yield to him. Thats where the issue is.

Submission is serving, being accountable to and yeilding to the leadership of your husband. Not being a yes woman without constructive suggestions or thought as the world would have us believe. This can be a ourney and it also goes both ways. But that is for another day. (In our Hello Fear series for this month we will look into this more.)

Dearly beloved, you are the queen of your household and your husband is king. I want to encourage you today to consider that your husband is not your enemy, your husband is not somebody that you’re supposed to oppose. If you are actually a woman of faith, then you should know that women of faith are women who submit to their husbands as their husbands submit to Christ (Ephesians 5:22-33). Ask God for help if you struggle in this area. Pray that right now.

Shalom.