Hang him on that

Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, "Look, the very gallows that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, stands at Haman's house, fifty cubits high." And the king said, "Hang him on that." 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated. Esther 7:9-10

There's a certain danger in going after your enemy full bore. You may think you have them in your hands and that you're certain to win but there's a danger in that. The person you're trying to get to kill your enemy might realize what you're up to an turn on you.

Haman found that out the hard way. Esther found out that her relationship with the king was worth more to him than companionship. Her political marriage turned out to be a real one after all. I'm sure she didn't know that to start with though. What she did wasn't without risk. She was, after all, one of the king's many possessions. She had to play it that way too. Her life depended on it.

Sometimes we have to take a risk to do the right thing. It's scary to find out just what you mean to someone. It's not easy to let someone know that you need them to do something because they love you. It makes the answer to that question obvious. I need you to do this if you care about me can feel like an ultimatum. Sometimes it's the right thing to do. Sometimes it's not.

Sometimes you aren't going to like the answer. I've been in situations in the past year when I found out what my friendship meant to someone. Or didn't mean. I found out that they didn't have intestinal fortitude to take up for me. Maybe they liked the other person more, I don't know. I found out, though, who my real friends are. I also found out who they aren't.

I would have told you about ten months ago I was sorry about that. Today I'm not. Today I'm glad the situation wasn't life or death. I've have been in deep trouble if it had been. I know I'm hard to live with. I'm hard to live with but so are a lot of my friends. I'm grateful for those that think I'm worth the trouble I cause. (They're worth the trouble they cause too.)