Flying By The Seats Of Our Pants Series

Flying by the Seats of Our Pants

(Esther 4:4-5:14)

Intro

1. A wise person once said, "Life is a continuous process of getting used to things we hadn’t expected."

2. A New York City businessman decided to avoid a $20 service charge by replacing a fluorescent light himself. After he had smuggled a new light into his office and put it in place, he decided to get rid of the old tube by throwing it in the trash can near his subway stop. That night he got on the subway holding the seven-foot light vertically, with one end resting on the floor of the car. As the train became more crowded other passengers took hold of the tube, assuming it was a grab bar. By the time the man reached his stop, he simply removed his hand and exited the car, leaving the other passengers gripping the fluorescent tube! (from www.higherpraise.org)

3. The Bible says a lot about planning – when we can. Yet on the other hand, we also must be flexible and spontaneous (Mary and Martha) because life has many surprises to which we must adjust.

4. The odds are that most of us are stronger in one area or the other. But sometimes we must all "fly by the seat of our pants."

"To fly by the seat of one’s pants" does mean "to do a job the best you can by instinct, training, or experience, without outside aid or instruction," and seems to have been popularized during World War II, though the phrase itself is probably a bit older. It originally meant to fly an airplane either without the aid of instruments (compass, airspeed, altimeter, radio direction finder, etc.) or when instruments were of little or no use in fog or other bad weather. "Flying by the seat of one’s pants" in such a situation would mean that the pilot’s experience and "feel" for the aircraft (including the actual vibrations, etc. sensed in his seat) would have to substitute for instrument data to guide the aircraft safely. /www.word-detective.com/111703.html

I Corinthians 10:13

Main Idea: Sometimes we find ourselves in horrible predicaments without an answer. Yet, with God’s help, we can often find the “way of escape” if we do not give up and keep trusting Him.

I. Act 5: Mordecai Gets the BAD NEWS to Esther (4:4-17)

A. Esther INVESTIGATES (4-8)

1. Esther gets word that Mordecai is fasting and clothes torn in grief

2. Sends clothes so he can enter PALACE area and talk

3. Situation so serious Mordecai refuses good clothes (4)

4. Esther sends servant to bring message (5)

5. Problem serious: Haman so dedicated, offered great money to king (6-7)

6.Gives Esther copy of decree, asks her to intervene (8)

B. Esther’s HELPLESNESS (6- 11)

1. King not asked for her for 30 days

2. She takes her life in her hands if she enters the throne room spontaneously; if king does not hold out the scepter, she will be executed…

C. Mordecai’s RESPONSE (12-14)

1. It is not about YOU

2. It is about God’s PROVIDENCE (14)

D. Esther: A True HEROINE (15-17)

1. Asking for fasting of the people

2. “If I perish, I perish” (16b)

Edward Everett Hale…

I am only one,

But still I am one.

I cannot do everything;

But still I can do something;

And because I cannot do everything

I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.

Main Idea: Sometimes we find ourselves in horrible predicaments without an answer. Yet, with God’s help, we can often find the “way of escape” if we do not give up and keep trusting Him

II. Act 6: Esther Takes UNCERTAIN Initiatives (5:1-4)

A. She was between a ROCK and a Hard Place

1. The Queen was one of hundreds in the harem; not of royal blood, had no rights, was not to interfere with matters of state; only job – to look beautiful, appear at social gatherings, and please the king (unlike European Queens)

2. He had divorced (or possibly even executed) his previous Queen

3. He trusted Haman as head of state and Haman was also his best friend

4. He believed Haman’s lies about the Jews

5. The law to exterminate the Jews was already signed into law and could not be changed, even if the king wanted to do so

6. The king had not been paying much attention to Esther, and so she doubted whether she was still in his favor

7. She could not just burst into the throne

B. She Began An Uncharted COURSE (5:1-8)

1. If she asked for an appointment, things could be delayed and she would have to blurt out the purpose of her visit

2. So, after a couple of days of fasting, she entered the throne room as a walk in