Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you,
Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And
spare my people—this is my request. For I and my people have been sold to be
destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and
female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify
disturbing the king.”
Esther
7:3-4
Esther
makes an eloquent request. She doesn’t cut to the chase. Her words are intriguing.
She left a few unanswered questions, and fascinated the king. Her goal was to
engage the king’s mind and to evoke strong emotion. And, she succeeded.
Sometimes
our attempts at persuasion boil down to a battle of wills. “This is what I
want.” “Well, this is what I want.” Where do you go from there? Often
confronting a situation directly just blows up in our face. When we take a
person head on, they become threatened and defensive. When we speak frankly to
another person about him or herself, their defensiveness causes them to miss
the point.
People
can’t look directly at themselves. It’s too close. It’s too personal. It’s hard
for them to see. We can only see ourselves in reflections.
Esther
doesn’t lay into Xerxes about his edict to exterminate the Jewish people.
Xerxes wouldn’t have connected the dots. He would have felt personally
attacked. Esther’s mission would have failed right there.
Instead,
Esther causes Xerxes to look at the situation by talking about it indirectly.
This wasn’t a passive-aggressive, innuendo and insinuation kind of tactic.
Esther’s approach allowed Xerxes to look at the circumstance objectively. He
would automatically ask himself, “Who would do such a thing?” before he
realized that he was the one.
How
do you approach other people? Do you go straight for the jugular? Do you
immediately rub their noses in it? How can you discuss the facts without
causing them to become defensive? Is there a story you can tell from another
situation? Is there a way to invoke their interest without provoking their
anger?
Support
Galatians 419 Ministries with a Tax Deductible Donation through the Joy to the World Foundation:http://joytotheworldfoundation.org/operating-projects/149-galations-419-ministries/backing
To
subscribe or leave a comment on the galatians419 devotional blog:http://galatians419.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment