Hamanitus

Have you ever experienced Hamanitus? Thankfully, the remedy is fairly simple! 

Recently, as I’ve been reading through Esther, I was struck once again by Haman’s attitude. It’s easy to judge him, but unfortunately, we can often adopt a similar attitude. Esther 5:13 is a key verse. “Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.” He was caught in the “if only” trap. We don’t often think of ourselves as being similar to Haman, but we can also fall into this same trap. 

If only this happened, then I could be happy. If only this circumstance would change/end, then everything would be better. We can get to the point where we hardly notice all the good, much less enjoy it, because we are so focused on that one pesky thing that isn’t right in our world.  

Ultimately, we cannot control our circumstances, but we can control our attitudes. We can choose to rejoice in the Lord, even if the outcome we desire never takes place in the way we want. It is a blessing to be able to enjoy peace and joy now, instead of waiting for the “ideal” circumstances!