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We have all heard of the amazing story of Esther. In fact, the story is so incredible, in the Old Testament, there is a whole book devoted to it.

I am just going to summarize for you the whole book, for the sake of time.

The story goes that Esther, a Jew, was married to a Persian King named Ahasuerus, who signed a decree to have all the Jews killed. Because of this, Esther was in a unique and life-threatening situation. Her very life and the lives of her people demanded that she interact with her husband with a great deal of courage and wisdom. Keep in mind that the king did not know that Esther was a Jew. He only knew she was absolutely stunningly beautiful, apparently that was all he needed to know as his first wife was said to be the most beautiful woman in all of Persia. However, being married to the king of Persia did not give Esther much protection. If she displeased him, she would most likely be divorced, like the king’s first wife, or, even worse, she could be killed.

It was serious business to upset or displease the king. Obviously this is extreme wife 101 right here, which is why I find it so amazing: the future of the Jews literally hung upon how well Esther communicated with her husband.

Esther knew in her heart what the king was going to do was wrong. Her heart ached as she knew she was in disagreement with her husband. But, we also know she was very, very aware of the king’s authority and her place in it.

Praise the Lord for His Word, as we read the account of Esther, we find that her response has provided us with a beautiful, biblical model in how to approach a husband that is making a decision that we feel is wrong before Lord.

In Esther 4:16, we see that the first thing she did was to gather her maidservants and begin to fast and pray. I know you’re tired of hearing about all these women in the Bible with their maidservants, but I feel your pain on that one.

Anyway, I love Esther’s response because it is so contradictory to what our sin nature wants to do. I don’t know about you, but I struggle with making prayer my first response to most things. My first response to when my husband and I disagree is to usually try to win him over with a good argument. But according to the Bible, that is not the best response.

God wants our response to be three things for sure: motivated by love, bathed in prayer, and gentle (from Ephesians 4:2).

Are you gentle? Is your reaction towards your husband motivated by love and bathed in prayer?

If not, ask the Lord to remind you of the story of Esther, to write the Esther story in your own life, and your own marriage. Because something else stands out in the way Esther approached her situation: she waited for the Lord. She really waited, even when her husband asked what was on her mind, she still waited another day until she was for sure that the Lord had said, “Now is the right time.”

Waiting patiently on the Lord requires that we are listening to Him above all other things.