Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. — Esther 7:3
When I started in leadership, I had a habit of opening my mouth before I really should have. Someone would ask a question, and I would respond immediately, before I had gathered enough information, before I had asked the right clarifying questions, before I had thought through the implications of what I was about to say. It felt efficient in the moment. It felt responsive and decisive. But it led to mistakes. Extra work that could have been avoided. Frustrations that were entirely of my own making.
Over time, I learned one of the most valuable lessons leadership has to offer. There is a skill in knowing the right moment. And knowing the right moment requires the discipline of waiting for it rather than simply moving at the first available opportunity.
Esther understood that lesson at a level that most of us spend years trying to reach. When she approached the king, he extended the golden scepter. She was safe. He offered her up to half the kingdom. The door was as wide open as it could possibly be. She had survived the most dangerous part of her approach, and the king was fully attentive and fully generous. Every instinct in a less disciplined person would have said: now. Speak now. The moment is here.
Esther invited him to a banquet instead. And at that first banquet, when he asked again what she wanted and offered again to give her up to half the kingdom, she invited him to a second banquet. She held her most important request for the exact right moment rather than the first available one. She was not stalling out of fear. She was waiting out of wisdom. Something in her knew that the moment God had prepared for this request had not yet fully arrived.
When it did arrive, at the second banquet, with Haman present, with the king’s heart fully open and the stage perfectly set, she spoke. And the result was complete. Her life. Her people. The total undoing of everything Haman had built against them.
The difference between the first banquet and the second was not the request. It was the moment.
There is a wisdom in knowing when to speak and when to wait that cannot be rushed or manufactured. Not every open door is the right door for right now. Not every available opportunity is the appointed one. The king’s offer at the first banquet was real and genuine. But the moment was not yet complete. Esther’s patience between those two banquets is one of the most instructive moments in the entire story.
I have made many decisions in my leadership journey by speaking too soon. By responding before the full picture was available. By moving at the first opportunity rather than waiting for the appointed one. And the cost of that impatience was almost always greater than the cost of waiting would have been.
Wisdom is not just knowing what to do. It is knowing when to do it.
Whatever you are holding right now, whatever request, whatever decision, whatever word that is ready to be spoken, ask yourself whether the moment is simply available or whether it is actually right. The available moment and the appointed moment are not always the same thing.
Esther knew the difference. And what she accomplished by waiting was worth everything the waiting cost her. The right moment is worth waiting for. Moving at the first available opportunity is not always the same as moving at the right one.
These devotionals are written to encourage, challenge, and support you in your walk with God. If they are meaningful to you, you can subscribe and receive them by email.
If you’re looking for additional resources to continue your time with God, you can find our books and reading plans available at anotherwell.org/books. These devotionals are designed to help you slow down, reflect deeply, and stay rooted in God’s Word throughout your day.
About Another Well Ministries
Another Well Ministries exists to help people slow down, listen deeply, and encounter God in the ordinary places of life. Through devotionals, reflections, and spiritual resources, we seek to create space for faith to be formed with honesty, grace, and hope.
To learn more about the heart of the ministry or explore additional resources, visit anotherwell.org.
