If you like a good mystery novel, one that has heroes and villains, intrigue and suspense, assassination plots and a happy ending, you’ve got it right here in the book of Esther.
You’ve got it all except—amazingly, God is never mentioned in the entire Book of Esther. But His presence is unmistakable. And what a comfort that is for us. We may go through seasons of life where it seems to us that God’s presence is not clearly evident. But He is there! He’s working.
That’s right, and where you find Him is in two wonderful attributes of his character, woven all throughout the book of Esther and our own lives—His sovereignty and His providence. Before we dig into our passage today, I want to take a moment to talk about these two attributes of God’s character.
God’s Sovereignty—
Just by looking at the small word within the large word—reign—we get exactly the idea of what we mean by God’s sovereignty. God reigns, He is the supreme ruler of everything. God created the world and all that is in it and He sustains His creation. One day He will bring all things to a perfect and satisfactory conclusion.
Paul writes in Col 1:16—
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Charles Spurgeon, the 19th century evangelist, writes this about the sovereignty of God—
There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God’s sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials, they believe that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that sovereignty overrules them, and that sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children ought to more earnestly contend to than the doctrine of their Master over all creation—the Kingship of God over all the works of His own hands—the Throne of God and His right to sit upon that throne...for it is God upon the Throne whom we trust.
God’s Providence—
God’s providence is really an off-shoot of His sovereignty. God interacts with His creation and governs the events and circumstances of this world.
His providence is evident in His rule of the natural order, His rule of world history, His rule over human freedom and His rule over personal circumstances. Because He is the supreme ruler He is at liberty to see His will come to it’s appointed goal.
Recall Charlie’s story
As we share God’s word and God speaks to your heart this morning, know that you are never in the grip of blind forces (fortune, chance, luck, fate); all that happens to you is divinely planned, and each event comes as a new summons to trust, obey, and rejoice, knowing that all is for your spiritual and eternal good. And if you find yourself in a challenging situation this morning, know also that God has you exactly where He wants you to be “for such a time as this.”
Essentially, I think we will all agree that we are creatures of comfort. We attempt to avoid at all cost any place of discomfort, tension or adversity. Where there is conflict, we seek to remove ourselves, where there is a struggle, we seek to find the path of least resistance and where there is discomfort, we seek to find the comforting cure. The stress management industry, including counseling, therapy, physical fitness and pharmaceuticals is a multi-billion dollar industry in America.
Hey, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for cutting down on stress in life, but when you think about it, most of our stress is caused by our own worry and anxiety, for things completely out of our control. What I’m saying is that we will do almost anything to be comfortable. But, often times deep spiritual growth will only occur when we face adversity and overcome it through Christ’s strength.
You see, God’s plan for our lives doesn’t always have us travelling down the path of least resistance. It doesn’t always have us the escaping conflict or dodging the discomfort. In our passage this morning, Esther finds her royal position of prestige and comfort challenged by the events taking place in the palace.
You see, every so often in life, we find ourselves standing before God, thinking we know the itinerary—good health, a job promotion, a wedding, a pregnancy. Many times God checks over the itinerary He created and says carry on. But there are times when He says, “No, that isn’t the journey I have planned for you. I have created you for such a time as this and have routed you down this path instead.” Possibly a path of struggle, or a path of discomfort or one of illness.
In one day with one decree from the king, Esther realizes that her life and the lives of all the Jews were in jeopardy. Mordecai, however, was confident that God was in control and His promises to His people could not be thwarted. So, Mordecai reminds Esther that she was placed in a position in which she could help the nation of Israel and that God could work through her unique position in the palace “for such a time as this.”
I’d like to remind you also, my friends, that if God is allowing you to go through a place or a season of struggle—perhaps with poor health, perhaps in a lost or dead end job, or perhaps in a failing relationship, that He also has a plan for that position you are in. The world will tell you that you hit rock bottom and what rotten and unfortunate luck you have.
But in God’s sovereignty—Ro 8:28 tells us that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. I am here to tell you that if you are in a place of difficulty today, that God has you there for such a time as this. It is not an accident. No struggle will come your way apart from his purpose, presence and permission.
NO, my friends, God has a purpose. The challenge now becomes what do you do with this day, this time?
As we look more closely at our passage this morning, I especially want to consider three main ideas— the reason for the place we are in, our reaction to the place we are in and then the right response to the place we are in.
I. The Reason
Pride might keep us from admitting it but we’ve probably all had moments when we’ve muttered, “Why, God? Why me, God?” And as ashamed as we may feel over our lack of faith, the truth of the matter is, there is an answer to those questions. For reasons we don’t always fully understand, God accomplishes His purposes through people. He can and does work in and through believers as well as unbelievers, the good and the bad, to accomplish what He wills.
Therefore, God has a plan and purpose for everything that goes on in our life. Mordecai said to Esther, “And who knows but that you have come to a royal position for such a time as this.”
It may not seem pleasant at the time, you can say I didn’t ask for this, I didn’t get a chance to vote on it, but God lets us face the challenges of life to carry out His purpose, and so they become opportunities for our spiritual growth and for God to be glorified.
Remember the blind man that Jesus healed on the Sabbath? (Re-state story)
Are you taking the challenges and turning them into opportunities for growth and glory? If not, you’re missing out on so much.
When we allow God to use us through adversity and face head on such a time as this, we in a special way more than any other time are able to see God’s hand at work in our lives, experience God’s wonderful grace and probably most importantly we are moved to reach out to others.
Recall Maureen’s Story
You probably know the proverb, when God is about to do something great, He starts with a difficulty, but when God is going to do something truly magnificent, He starts with impossibility. Stand back and watch God do something magnificent as He works through this challenge in your life today.
Moses did just that. With his back to the Egyptian army and his face to the Red Sea, he trusted that God would use this moment to bring glory to Himself. And the impossible was erased by the magnificent.
Be encouraged. God’s ways are always right. They may not make sense to us. They may be mysterious, difficult, inexplicable and even painful. But they are right. The time such as this is not a waste. You’re not facing this challenge because God has some sadistic desire to see you squirm.
Hear the words of Moses, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.”
II. The Reaction
Often, our reaction to a situation sets the stage on where our heart will be.
Mordecai told Esther that God had placed her in her position to be used by Him to bring about the deliverance of the Jews. This put Esther in a difficult situation. If she uses her position in the palace to approach the king without first being summoned, she risked being put to death. If she doesn’t go to the king, Haman’s plan to kill the Jews goes into effect.
When Esther first learned that she was need to go to the king to expose Haman’s plan. Fear kept her from focusing on how God planned to use her to carry out his purposes and fear keeps us from being used by God as well.
Fear is an interesting emotion—positively, it can heighten your awareness and stimulate you to greater performance or negatively, it can paralyze you. If fear effects you negatively, it stops your progress. You fear losing your job if you take a stand for God or share your faith, so your partner never hears your testimony. You fear the trial you’re facing and keep to yourself so your unbelieving neighbor never gets to see God glorified in your restoration. When Elijah heard of Jezebel’s plan to kill him, the Bible says he was afraid and ran for his life. His fear nearly kept him from ministering to the remnant of believers God had protected who did not bow to false gods.
Fear is a big one but it’s not always fear that keeps us from carrying out God’s purpose. Have you ever been down the road of grumbling and complaining? I have. “God, I can’t believe I’m going through this.” “Are you sure you know what you’re doing God?” Have you been down that road too?
Remember the Israelites? They’ve been down that road. God just rescued them from a life of slavery in Egypt, delivered them into a land flowing with milk and honey, to be a light to the Gentiles and the only thing they could do was complain about how much they missed the food in Egypt. The Israelites were to be God’s kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Well, Peter says in 1Pe 2:9—
You are a chosen people, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.
Are you asking to go back to your Egypt because you are uncertain about the place God has you in today?
How about the road of complacency? “I don’t like what I’m going through so God ain’t getting nothing out of me.” “I’m not going to church, I’m not serving on anything. I’m just going to sit here and sulk.” I know about that road too. I sat around for about a month pouting and doing nothing after I was pushed out of my sales manager’s job in 2000. Finally, I realized that God was making a way to grow the Neighbors In Need Ministry in Charlottesville.
Complacency, like fear and complaining will stop us dead in our tracks.
What is keeping you from being used by God today?
III. The Right Response
Whatever her initial reaction, Esther came up with the right response. Paralyzing fear gave way to humble submission.
But before anything, Esther called for fasting and prayer. She wanted to connect first with the Lord. That’s what fasting is all about. Removing the distractions of our flesh so we can get in touch with the Lord. That’s why fasting and prayer are almost always mentioned together.
You have to admire her sensible, spiritual reaction—she asked for prayer then presented herself as a “living sacrifice” to do God’s will. What a great model for all of us.
My friends, it is so easy to run away when we find ourselves in a difficult situation. But God wants us to connect with Him and His body (us) instead. I know too many Christians that when situations turn difficult in their lives, they stay home, they get out of the Word and they ignore the loving fellowship of the body of Christ. Esther connected with her brothers and sisters and then together they connected with God, to seek His will and understand His purpose.
When we first connect with God and each other we will have the strength to overcome the adversity, we will know what God is doing and we will grow spiritually every single time. Don’t worry—God has one eye on the flame and one hand on the thermostat. He knows what we can handle and won’t allow us to bear more than that.
Basically, Mordecai said to Esther, “The ball’s in your court!” “God’s will and purpose is going to be accomplished with or without you.”
So, I’ll say the same to you today, “The ball’s in your court. God’s will and purpose is going to be accomplished with or without you.”
You see, God doesn’t need you to accomplish his will. But he wants you to experience the blessings and the growth that comes from obeying Him.
Let’s go back to Charlie’s story for a moment.
If you and I refuse to obey God, He can either abandon us and get somebody else to do the job, and we will lose the reward and blessing; or He can discipline us until we surrender to His will. Two examples come to mind. Since John Mark left the mission field and returned home, God raised up Timothy to take his place. When Jonah ran from God, the Lord kept after him until he obeyed, even though he didn’t obey from his heart.
When God isn’t permitted to rule, He overrules; and He always accomplishes His purposes.
The real question then becomes—“Is God in control of my life?”
If so these words of Isaiah should be a comfort and encouragement—
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the LORD, your God,
