Esther 1:10-15

During a time, he was showing off to the whole kingdom the great treasures he had, the king decided to call his wife but unfortunately, she refused. This was a very embarrassing moment for the king who was rightfully disappointed by the conduct of the queen. His response to this showed that he was a man of good character.

• He waited for the feast to finish and for everyone to go home. He didn’t respond to his burning anger which would have ruined everything he was doing and portrayed himself as a king who lacks self-control. In the same way, we too should always wait and not respond in the hit of the moment because in most cases if not all of them our actions won’t yield any outcome we would be proud of later on. We should practice self-control in the words we speak and the actions we take in response to anger and other burning emotions.

• In resolving the matter, the king understood the importance of speaking to wise advisers considering that anger would have also clouded his judgment. Yes, anger does affect our judgment on issues therefore we may need to call one or two trusted brothers or sisters to speak to them and seek their counsel. It’s not everyone is qualified for this part because if you get the wrong advisers, the outcome may even be worse than just doing it alone. Take a man who fears God, who is of good understanding, and who has wise character (known and testified by others) and speak to them privately on how to go about the issue. Again, you go there with ears open to listen not with premeditated answers that you want them to just affirm or agree with. Once done, then come up with an informed decision.

• The king didn’t show partiality because this was something of interest to him, rather he still applied the law on the matter that had risen in his palace. As Christians we also have a book of law that guides us on how to deal with every matter of life, therefore when we come together to discuss how to go about any issue before us, we should use this book. It should be the center of our talk and we should search in it to find how the Lord instructs us to go about that matter. Any decision made by the Book of Law will stand as right and will please God.

These are three beautiful lessons for us when we handle emotional issues, especially those that involve anger.