Esther 5:13 Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.

Haman was doing great. He was the king’s top man. Now the queen was requesting that he come to a banquet prepared just for him and the king. He was elated. He should be the happiest man in the whole of Persia. Indeed, he was until he saw Mordecai sitting at the king's gate. The sight of Mordecai was nauseating to him. Immediately, all his joy vanished and instead, fresh anger rose within him. Why won’t Mordecai bowed to him like everyone else? Mordecai made Haman sick to the stomach.

Have you ever hated a person so much that you simply could not stand the sight of him? The sight of him, even the thought of him made you angry. But think about it: what has he done to you that you hated him so much? Most likely he has not done a single thing to hurt you. He didn’t cheat, steal, slander, or had a quarrel with you. Most likely the problem is with you and not him. You are envious of him. He hurt you with his preaching; and that’s because you are guilty of the sin he mentioned. I have, in the course of my writings and preaching, made enemies. They didn’t agree with some of the things that were written. In actual fact, they are not agreeing with the word of God and not with me.

The fault is not with Mordecai but with Haman himself. Sin will ever render its possessor unhappy. Haman had such a high opinion of his own worth that he could not stand anyone who didn’t share the same sentiment. This resulted in his unhappiness with Mordecai who didn’t give him the honour he coveted.

Ahab, king of Israel, was unhappy and could not eat or sleep merely because he couldn’t get the vineyard of Naboth. Indeed, an uncontented person is an unhappy person. Haman was also such a man: everyone in the palace bowed to him except one man, Mordecai. But it was enough to make him very unhappy.

No one can make you more miserable than you, yourself, can. Haman had enormous power in Ahasuerus' kingdom. He had riches, position, honour and power. Yet, when Mordecai, the Jew, refused to bow to him, he was unhappy and resented this man. He made himself miserable. Mordecai had done him no harm. He even devised a plan to kill Mordecai. Did Mordecai commit anything that was worthy of death?

Yet, in spite of all that he had, he said: “Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate" (Est 5:13).

Haman's great love for himself made him miserable and ultimately destroyed him. He was killed by the same gallows he had made for Mordecai. Hatred kills no one but the person who harbours it. First, it makes him miserable. Then, it kills him.

Are you happy today? You should be. If you have food on your table, a place to call home, a family to return to, and friends to cheer you, you should be happy.

Yet, some are not happy in spite of all they have! Why?

Like Haman and Ahab, they are not contented. Ahab coveted one more vineyard. Haman coveted one man’s bow. It was enough to make these two men unhappy and miserable.

We should be happy with what we have rather than to be unhappy with what we do not have. A contented person is a happy person. It is our sins that make us miserable – our pride, jealousy, hatred, lack of love, selfishness, discontentment, and covetousness; any one of those things is enough to make us miserable and unhappy.

The word of God says: “But godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim 6:6). It is great gain because it benefits the body and soul. Every beatitude is preceded by the word “blessed” (Matt 5:3-11). It means to be happy. Those who image their lives after the beatitudes are happy people.

Are you happy? Is there anyone that made you unhappy? Check yourself! 

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.