The Tip of the Scepter

"Now it happened on the third day," the ancient Eastern story goes, "that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king's palace."

Chances are you are very familiar with the story. You know what has transpired up to this point. You know that Esther's life (certainly), and the lives of her family (most probably), and even the future of her entire nation (quite possibly), hang in the balance. You know that it is unlawful to enter the king's presence without an invitation, and that there is only one punishment: death. Unless, of course, the king extends the royal scepter.

Remember the moment you stood on the edge. That moment on the bridge, or the ledge or the edge of the cliff. It takes your breath away. Your body backs away of its own volition. Your stomach is in your throat. Maybe you didn't physically stand on the edge; you were on a different edge. The car hydroplaning or sliding on ice. Or any of a thousand other situations where danger is imminent.

Esther felt it. She walked right to the edge. Then she stepped off. The Bible does not say how Esther felt at that moment, but I have tried to imagine it many times.

There is no way to know for sure, but I do know how Esther felt when the king extended the royal scepter to her. I know what Esther felt as she walked across the throne room, as she looked into the eyes of the king and placed her hand on the tip of the scepter. I know because I have felt it too. I too have known the sentence of death for breaking the law. I too stood condemned, no recourse and no appeal. No hope save one, the favor of the King. I know the relief, the overwhelming joy, the gratitude from the deepest part of the soul, the desire to express something for which there are no words.

I know because I too have touched the tip of the scepter.

The King of Heaven has extended the royal scepter to us in Jesus Christ. Sometimes when my life is busy and my mind becomes consumed with other things, I do not remember. But I remember now. I am so very thankful to God for His love and His grace to me. So freely given, at such great cost to Himself, how can I not give my life to Him and live for Him each day? There is only one refreshing, and everything else is a picture of it. Come with me this morning to say thank you again. Come with me today to touch the tip of His scepter.

Wait for it...

Dark house. The only sounds I hear are a few crickets outside and the occasional random sounds of a coffeemaker that just got done. There is something about the early morning, a sense of expectancy for the day. Maybe our hearts know the dawn is just on the way.

Refreshing. Renewal. The dawn. A new day. Here in the dark and the quiet, I am waiting for it all to happen. Waiting and watching. Hoping. Expecting. Believing.

Sometimes our hearts need a moment with no external demands. Sometimes the heart needs to just be. It is a way of acknowledging God. I embrace humility, quietly seeking God's face.

Waiting, if done right, has good results. "Wait upon the Lord," Isaiah said, "and you will renew your strength." I am waiting to see His goodness. He will renew my strength. A new dawn impends... what does this new day hold? I wait to see what the Lord will do for me.

Beauty on a stick

I'm still thinking about refreshing. I was recently on a trip which was thankfully refreshing. I was outdoors a lot in a wild and beautiful place. Being in touch with nature does something very good for the soul. It is refreshing to view God's handiwork on display, to stop and reflect that our days are few and the only things that really matter have a lot to do with how I treat others. It is refreshing to come to the end of the day exhausted with honest effort and to appreciate God's handiwork displayed in you. It is good to lay down the accumulated cares of the day, and to never take them up again.

One thing that struck me as I was away from my daily routine: I and the members of my party took a lot of pictures. The setting was visually stunning - towering mountains, rushing waters channeled by boulders and cliffs, alpine meadows, forests with wild flowers and fauna. (Including wild trout. I am happy to say I saw a lot of wild trout, but not all of them were as happy to see me.) All recorded with the touch of a button, immediately saved on my camera's memory stick. As I thought about it, I came to realize something deeper was going on.

More than the impressive visual display, we were trying to capture the moment. I didn't so much want to record the view as to record the feeling the view created in me. I wanted to capture the beauty, and I wanted to experience again (when looking at the picture later) the feelings that beauty stirred deep within me. I wanted the beauty on a stick (ok, my camera's memory stick) so I could take it out and feel that feeling again and again and again.

Sounds kind of funny when I say it like that, being so open about something so private. I guess that's the power of a blog. You can bare your soul to another without looking into their eyes. God's creation is a masterly display. Our souls respond to beauty. True beauty refreshes. It's like our eyes have taken something in and, having communicated everything they have seen, they tell us that there are truths they comprehend beyond this material world. In honest and quiet moments we can hear our hearts agree.

All longing for beauty, and all longing for refreshing, are echoes of our hearts crying out for God.