Building Gallows

“Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said ‘A gallows seventy-five feet high stands by Haman’s house.  He had made it for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.’” Esther 7:9. 

Don’t you know that Harbona couldn’t spit those words out quickly enough?  His response reminds me of when my children were little and one couldn’t rush quickly enough to show me what the other had done wrong.  On some occasions I would be pulled by the hand to be shown the disobedience….ahhhhh…..the joy of one child seeing the other child get what they deserve.  My children were not mean-hearted…just justice-driven.

We are no different as Christian adults as we run to God, grabbing His hand and dragging Him to the feet of someone who deserves to be punished.  We point out situations that God is already very aware of.  We give God ideas for the punishment we feel they should experience.  We remind God that our motivation is based on fairness and justice, not a heart screaming out from the flesh.   

In watching someone set up the gallows for one of my children, I was tempted to point out the noose to God.   In prayer, I reminded God that this person needed to be punished and that my daughter was the intended neck for the gallows.  What words I wasted in remembering that God will permit providence to play out until man hangs on his own gallows.  John Calvin said, ‘Man falls as God’s providence ordains, but he falls by his own fault.’ I love that we don’t have to build gallows and tell God how to do His job.  He ordains which circumstances we will experience which align with His ultimate purpose for each of our lives. 

The next time we wish to see someone hang for their actions, we must remember that someOne hung for our actions.