pushed around
Where in your life are you being figuratively or literally pushed around? What would happen to you if today you refuse to be pushed?
Esther 1:10-12
On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, … Queen Vashti refused to come at [his] command. At this the king was enraged, and his anger burned within him. … let it be written … that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.
I don’t know why Vashti refused to come before the king. Was she busy? Was she sick? Or just sick of his drunkenness?
The king’s attendants must have communicated to Queen Vashti the high stakes of not dropping everything and presenting herself, yet she refused. And she lost her position. Because refusing to be commanded by power and privilege invites retaliation and punishment.
Vashti drops out of the king’s narrative, but her story continues and that trade might have been a good one, though. All the money and security in the world isn’t worth suffering the abuse of a tyrant.
With Vashti moving on, Esther can become queen. And she can be bold in that role because of having seen Vashti be brave.
Where in your life are you being figuratively or literally pushed around? What would happen to you if today you refuse to be pushed? What would happen to the Esther who is watching you?
Refusing for selfish control is very different from principled rejection of selfish abuse by others. Can refusal be done without being divisive, by using love, forgiveness, and equality? Perhaps we could learn to share power, rather than exclude each other?