Esther 8:8  Now go ahead and send a message to the Jews in the king’s name, telling them whatever you want, and seal it with the king’s signet ring. But remember that whatever has already been written in the king’s name and sealed with his signet ring can never be revoked.” (NLT)

The Book of Esther is a great story of the Bible depicting how Esther saves her people from annihilation.  At this point in the story, the king of Persia has issued an edict that would seem to bring destruction upon the Israelites. What has been done cannot be undone. However, what lies ahead is still in the hands of the people concerned.

That is what struck me as I read this book. We may wish we could undo evil that we have done. We may desire to redo a missed opportunity. We may want to hold on to some fleeting moment from the past. Ultimately, yesterday is out of our grasp and try as we might, we cannot change it nor hold on to it.

However, our actions today and our hope for the future is still before us, and we have a great deal to say about that.

Nehemiah 4:17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. (NASB)

Talk about tough work conditions! Nehemiah led a group of Israelites from exile back to Jerusalem. There they rebuilt the wall around the city. They faced stiff and sometimes violent opposition.

The truth is: anytime someone tries to do something good (especially Godly), opposition will arise. In fact, if you never have anyone resist or oppose you, it probably means you hadn’t done anything.

Opposition and yes, haters, can be expected. Jesus, Himself, said, “If the world hates yoy, keep in mind that it hated me first.” (See John 15:18). Do not weary of doing what is good or right. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (See John 16:33)

If you have to work with one hand and carry a weapon in the other, at least let that weapon be the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Ezra 8:21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.

I recently had a dream in which I was Po from “Kung Fu Panda.” In this dream, Master Oogway said to me, “You must fast from nothing.”

With my mouth full of dumplings, I said, “You mean I don’t have to fast from anything?”

Master Oogway replied, “Fasting from nothing is not the same thing as not fasting from anything.”

To which I said, “Huh?”

Oogway continued, “If you do not fast from anything that amounts to nothing. If you fast from nothing, than everything that remains becomes important. And then… anything is possible.”

When I woke up, I realized that I partake in too much of my life that is nothing, amounts to nothing, or worse still, is less than nothing. It has a negative effect on me or the people around me.

Sometimes in our journey, we seem to cram more and more into our lives. More stuff. More events. More relationships. More everything. Perhaps what we need is to cut back and simply do more improvement to the things that are more important.