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Aug 27, 2023

When We Don’t See God

When We Don’t See God

Passage: Esther 1:5-8:17

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: God’s Not Done with You

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: church, worship, faith, jesus, god, sermon, christian, bible, christ, hope, preaching, sermons, spirituality, jesus christ, the bible, lord, christianity, transformation, bible study, esther, gods plan, self improvement, motivate, haman, life transformation, bible stories, study the bible, bible teaching, trending, change your life, 2023, burnt hickory worship, burnt hickory baptist church live stream, god plan, how to change your life, motivational video, god's not done with you, story of esther

Just because we don’t clearly see God’s plan in this moment, it does not mean that He does not moving in an amazing way to save us. Sometimes, even when we don’t see God, He still wants us to stand for Him. We continue our sermon series called God’s Not Done With You, and we read from scripture about Esther. What we learn is that God is always working to position and prepare us to make a stand for Him, and He places wise people in our lives to show us His compassion and His plan. God see and blesses every act of obedience, and we are never out of His sight. Do you trust in God’s plan? Are there times when you feel like you are completely alone, and God is not with you? Do you have questions or need someone to pray with? Feel free to reach out, we’d love to answer any questions and take time to pray with you. You can take the next step in your faith journey by visiting burnthickory.com/next.

Well, good morning, church. It is a great day today. And we love the fact that you are here and dialed in. I did the classic service welcome just a second ago and I couldn't hardly make it around the corner of the top of the building up there to where I can already hear this room just dialed in to where we're going today. Welcome back to week five. Also in a series like you just saw in the bumper that we're calling God's not done with You. And here's the reason we're doing that, because the more I'm with people, the more I hear people's stories, the more I realize at some point in most of our lives, it feels like, right. It's not the truth, but it just feels like that God has gone quiet or God has gone silent, or God has kind of turned his back on us. And what we're showing through these six weeks, next week is going to be the last one in these six weeks. Is that no matter what we think about ourselves or what others try to speak over us or even what Shane tries to make us believe, if you're still breathing and your heart is still beating, God is not done with you.

We've walked so far through the story of Moses and we've watched Moses' life show us that your past doesn't disqualify you. We walked through the story of Joseph and we watched Joseph's crazy plight of his brothers turning their back on him. But God was faithful. We stepped into the life of Elijah and we saw that even in our despair, even in our depression, even God is just waiting on us and a lot of times to turn back to him and say, Here I am to be useful. And then last week we looked at the deep story of Jonah. See how I did that? We looked at the deep story of Jonah last week, and we watched that even in those moments of our lives where sin may have us captive, that we serve a God that wants to reach down and deliver us, that wants to use us. He wants to put us back onto the shores of the Nineveh of our lives. Well, this morning, we're going to keep in the Old Testament this week and next week. But this morning we're going to look at an incredible story of God. In fact, we're going to give it a shot this week. But I almost bit off too much this week.

I'm going to go ahead and confess that on the front end this morning. But God willing, we're going to make it through a story this morning that literally saves the line and the lineage of Jesus that literally saves the Jews, that delivers God's people. And we're going to see through one lady today, through one lady and a crazy easy set of events. We're going to watch a lady say yes to God that I'm yours even for such a time as this. If you've got a copy of Scripture today, I want you to turn with me to the Book of Esther today. The Book of Esther Today. If you're looking for and you kind of don't know where it is, if you see Psalms in the middle of the Bible, just go back a couple of books from there. If you see Nehemiah, you're almost there. Keep going. It's the next book. Esther is one of two books in the Bible that is named after a lady. And on top of being named after a lady, it's an incredibly controversial old book throughout church history. Now, that has nothing to do with the lady part, but it has everything to do with the fact that if you read Esther from start to finish, you will not see the word God anywhere.

You won't see the name of God. You won't see the voice of God. You won't even see a prophet of God step up and give a message from God. In fact, it's an incredible book that shows us an incredible story of the idea that God is faithful even when we don't see him. You know, I'm so thankful that God is so chosen to give us the book of Esther, because Esther shows us in our lives that God has called us, that God is moving in us, that God is walking in our story, and that God is the central part of our story. What we're going to see in this book today as we're going to see one of the most incredible hand of God moments through all of history where God is directing and God is ordering and God is moving. But in the middle of that, the people that were in the moment didn't even realize it. You know Church, doesn't that just display a lot of our lives sometimes? Where God is moving in our lives, but yet because of everything that is going on in our circumstance, we're just not seeing Him in that moment. I want you to write a principle down before we jump in today, just sort of set the tone of the whole message. We've kind of done this every week and want to stay in this mode this morning. And here's the principle. The principle is this: just because you don't see, don't clearly see God's plan or hear God's direction in the moment does not mean that he does not want us to stand for him and that he is not moving in an amazing way to save us. Just because we don't see it, just because we don't understand it does not mean that God is not moving and that God is not wanting us to say yes to his plan. You know what? The Book of Esther shows us this more beautifully, probably than any other story in the Bible of even when we don't see God in the moment, God is moving. Now, in order to get to the story, I've got to do something today that I don't normally do. I've got to tell you the whole story.

Now, if you know the whole story, you know that this is going to be an incredibly exciting couple of minutes. But I've got to tell you from start to finish of the story, to show you the hand of God, to show you how he's weaving in, moving and kind of pressing into her life. And so I'm going to focus on the whole life of Esther today in her call to be used by God. But I'm also going to focus on the faithfulness of God to Esther, the faithfulness of God to his people, the Jews, and the faithfulness of God to us. And what we're going to see is just this display of God moving, even when we don't see him. All right. Let's jump into the history of this. Jump into the book.

Here we go. The year the book is set in is right around 536 B.C. or 438 B.C., the Jews had been in exile for about 100 years. They were there under Persian rule. They're there really because they turned their back on God about 50 years earlier than the text that we're reading before this. This guy named King Cyrus, he freed the Jews to go back to Jerusalem. They could go back to rebuild the temple, rebuild Jerusalem up. You can read that story. And Nehemiah and Ezra and a lot of them did go back, but a lot of Jews stayed back in Persia to just live their lives out there. They figured we'd been here for a couple of generations. Why upset it now? Let's just live here as just kind of second class citizens in this pagan society. So today, when we take up the book of Esther, Esther's family has been living in exile for about 100 years. They are now staying in Persia. They are viewed as second class citizens. And she is from one of those families. The book of Esther begins with a king named Xerxes. His real name is Ahasuerus. If you're reading in your Bible, his nickname is Xerxes. It's the same guy, right? Don't send me an email this week. It's the same person depending upon where you're reading. But in the book he is throwing a huge party. Now I'm going to tell you the story about using Scripture and filling it in as we go, and I'm going to give you some principles along the way that can transform your life when you don't see God moving.

All right. Let's jump into the story. Here we go, Esther, Chapter one, verse four. It says this For a full 180 days. He, that's Xerxes, he's the king, right? He displayed the vast wealth of the kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. What's happening? This is a six month party. That’s what's happening. That's 180 days, right? Verse five, it says this. Then when those days were over, the king gave a banquet lasting seven days. This is the after party, after the 180 day party. Right. And in the enclosed gardens of the King's Palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest, who were in the citadel of Susa. Now, verse eight, it tells us what kind of party that we're looking at right here. Just so you'll know, it says this: By the King's command, each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions. Right. So you can guess how this party is about to go. And you are correct. Watch verse ten on the seventh day when King Xerxes was high, in high spirits from the wine. Okay, you got that? You know what that is, right? He commanded the seven eunuchs who served him: Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethan, and Karkas. I don't know if that's right. I just made it up. Verse 11. Right. He commanded these seven eunuchs to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown in order to display her beauty to the people and the nobles. For she was lovely to look at.

Now, I need to pause right there, because here's what's happening. All right. I'm going to tell you, this is a story of all stories at the end of this party. This is the final night. The king gets so drunk, so lit that he decides it is going to be a good idea for all of his guests, all these nobles from all of the regions of Persia that he's trying to wine and dine to go fight with him against the Greeks. That's what he's doing, he decides it's a great idea to kind of get them on his side that he would call his wife in, wearing nothing but her crown. So they would lust after her and get on to his side as what the original Hebrews says right there. He thinks this is an incredible idea to get them to come and fight for him. Well, surprise, the queen is not happy about the plans. Right? Verse 12, Look at it. I'm just reading the Bible today. All right. But when the attendants delivered the king's command, Queen Vashti refused to come. But then the king became furious and burned with anger. Good for her. Right? But this embarrasses the king. And it's not like a society that we're in where you just kind of can do this and stand for your morals. No, the king made the rules. He who has the gold makes the rules. So this embarrasses the king. It embarrasses him in front of his pals, and the king stomps out of the palace, out of the room. And you can just in your mind, see one of the little advisors following up after him, looking at the king going, What she did is illegal. You cannot do that, Queen. See, this queen has dishonored you. She's dishonored you, King. You've got to do something about this lady. Not to even mention if word gets out that she did this and you didn't do this, our wives are going to stand up against us. And you have got to do something. Read it. It's in the text. I'm just walking you through it. So the king says, okay, so what does he do? He kicks the queen out. He gets rid of her, he sends her out. But now he has to go to war. He goes to the second Persian War. Remember the Spartans? Remember 300? He goes and he wins that war. He comes back, right?

He comes back. But now he needs a new queen. In between chapter one and chapter two was that war. Now we get to chapter two. And in chapter two, King Xerxes comes up and what I'm just going to call the original bachelor, right? It's just the original show, The Bachelor right here. What does he do? He's got to find him a new queen. So look at verse two and chapter two. It says this. Let the search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king. Well, it is probably not the bachelor that rules that out. But verse four, here we go. Some of you, you'll get that later. Verse four. I probably shouldn't have said that either. Moving on verse four, then let the young woman. Melissa, just went like this over here. I get it. Verse four. Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. So what's the king doing? The king is having a beauty contest. He's having a nationwide beauty contest. But here's the sad part of this contest. The contestants don't want to do it. They're drafted into the king's harem. They do not have the ability to say, no, you can think sex slavery in that because it's one step away from that. Being in the King's harem, you can not do anything about it. They're put into the King's harem. They're given this one year long beauty regimen before they can come before the king on a night to shine. I guess you could call it right to try out to see if they're going to be the one that was chosen. But let me pause right there and give you one of five reminders that I want to show us today from the stacks where God is, where God is really already moving in Esther. But Esther doesn't realize it yet. But we can look back and see it. You see? Write this down, number one. While we always can't, while we cannot always see God, God is working how he's always worked. God is working how he's always worked. You say Matt, God has always had beauty contests? God has always brought people into the King's Palace? Has God always done that? That's not what I'm saying. But what I'm saying is that God is always working from the beginning of time to the end of time, and he has never changed. He is always ordering our steps and moving in our lives, whether we recognize it or not. Esther didn't recognize it at this point. She didn't see it.

You know what? We may not even understand it when God is moving, we might not see it in the moment where God is moving. We might not even see where it is going in the moment of our lives. But God is working. His plans are in place. He is ordering our steps. So when we can't put the pieces together in my mind. Listen, Church, you can rest assured that God can. You can rest assured that He's already put the pieces together. And He does. He doesn't forget you. He doesn't walk away from you. And listen, God puts the pieces together. And just because you can't feel him, just because you can't see him does not mean that our God is not eternally in charge of the universe. And He is working for his glory in your good. That's what we're seeing in Esther's life. Believer's listen to me for a second. There are going to be many, many things in your life. When you're looking at them at the moment, you are not going to understand them. You're not. We live in a broken world. We live in a world that is cut off from the power of God in many ways. And there's going to be areas in your life where you're looking at your life right now and you're going, I don't see how God could be part of this. But here's what I'm going to tell you. Our job is not to see how God is part of something. Our job is to be faithful even when we question. Even in the moments where we don't know what's going on, that faith in the sovereign and faith and the providential God of the universe is really and truly all we have to lean on. Sovereign meaning he's all powerful. Providential meaning that he is weaving the steps, he is laying the tracks in front of us. And he will always supply us with what we need. Listen, God has always worked this way. He's always worked this way. Any story you're reading the Bible, you're seeing that happen. But here's the problem. We see it in our lives.

We don't get to see the end yet. We're living it in the middle. Fullness. In the middle is where he's calling us. Our job is not to understand. Our job is to submit. In fact, Isaiah 55 says it like this For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the Earth. So are my ways. Higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. So back to the text. There's no prophet speaking. There's no voice of God. There's no verse to lean on. There's no direct proclamation. But God is working and God is working in your lives. What happens next? These ladies are rounded up right? Herodotus the ancient historian as well as Josephus tells us that at least 400 ladies from all of the kingdom are brought in to do this year of training, this year of regiment and next we are introduced to Esther. Remember, Xerxes is the king. Now we're introduced to the main character. Her name is Esther. The Bible says that Esther is a Jew, although they don't know it yet. We'll see later on why that, why that is important. The Bible also says in chapter two, verse seven that Esther looks at it. It says She had a lovely figure and was beautiful.

The literal translation of that means that she had a beautiful face and a beautiful body. Good news, bad news. In verse 17 of chapter two, it says this. Now the king was attracted to Esther more than any of the other women, and she won the favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. So what happens? Esther wins the contests. Obviously, from Esther's perspective, this is not where she wants to be right? It's not where she wants to be, but us, from our perspective, we can already see that God is working. You say Matt, how can we see that God is working? I just gave it to you. We can see that God is working because God has now risen up a child of God, a Jew, into an evil kingdom to be the queen of this kingdom. What does that mean? Now, in an incredibly high position, there is a child of God ready to speak the name of God ready to speak the voice of God to a broken society, a powerful position. Let me just tell you this perspective means everything in our lives. Here's what that means. The reality is, if we could see as God sees, we would never not do what God says, we wouldn't. Why? Because our problem is, as we can only see as I see it, we can only see as my mind allows me to see. But what God can see is our beginning and our middle and our end. And if we can see God's full plan, then we would always say yes to God. So we're looking back at this event.

We're seeing God move. He is raising Esther into this position. God is doing something. But remember, God hasn't left her. God is moving in her. And then right the second thing down, while we can't always see God, number two, God is always working to position and prepare us to make a stand for him. He's always moving to do that. Everything that happens in your life God is using to prepare you to take a stand. Let's look at it in Esther's life. She's drafted into this thing. She's crowned the Queen. And then we meet the next guy in the story named Mordecai. Say Mordecai with me. One, two, three. I want to keep them straight. Mordecai is a good guy. Mordecai is a good guy. Now, Mordecai is Esther's older cousin. I know it's a little bit confusing, but you're going to get it. Her older cousin, she was an orphan. Both of her parents were killed. Mordecai was her guardian. He really adopted her. And Mordecai really cares for Esther. He's the voice of reason in the story. He's the voice behind her that says she can do it. And he's the voice that when she wants to give up in just a minute, is going to say, No, no, no, no. You can do it. In fact I want you to write this down. While we can't always see God, God places wise people into our lives to show us his compassion and his plan. He places people into our lives. This is one of the primary ways that God moves in all of our hearts. But the question is, will we notice? Will we let them? Will we listen to them or will we shut them out of our lives and tell them that I know what I'm doing? Now, Mordecai is a father figure in the story. He tells Esther at the end of chapter two.

He's like, Hey, I know you're a Jew. We're proud of that. But don't tell all these people that yet. There'll be a time to do that. But also, Mordechai is a government official in the Persian side of what is going on, and somehow, some way he has access into the inner workings of government. And as a result of that, one day, as he's sitting out by the gate, he hears there's a plot to kill King Xerxes. He's an incredibly loyal guy, Mordecai is. So Mordechai goes over, he tells Esther, he's like, Esther, somebody is going to kill the king, and you need to tell him. Esther says, okay, he's not going to kill the king. I'm going to take care of this. She raises it up the flag of the officials. They find out the plan is true and they stop the plan. And Mordechai gets credit for this plan and they write this down in the little minutes of the book of the day in what's going on in the Persian Kingdom. They wrote it down and that was that. Mordechai is an incredible person to have on your side. You're going to see it in a minute. So now we get to chapter three.

I told you we're moving. Chapter three is where things get crazy, absolutely crazy. And it's also where we meet the villain. The villain's name is Haman. Say the name Haman with me one, two, three. We know Haman is evil. You say Matt, how do we know he's evil? Thanks for asking. Look at chapter three, verse one. It says that After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, those Agagites you know, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than all of the other nobles. Now, long story short, you can study it this week that we know that Haman is a bad guy. Literally. I wasn't joking because he is an Agagite. The Agagites were the sworn enemies against the Jews for generations. They despise them. They hated them. They tried to kill them. You can go back and read the whole story on your own. Well, Xerxes promotes this guy that hates the Jews named Haman into the Prime Minister position. He's the second commander of all of the Kingdom. And in verse two, chapter three, it says this All the royal officials at the King's Gate knelt down to pay honor to Haman for the King had commanded this concerning him. But Mordechai would not kneel down or pay him honor. The royal officials at the King's Gate as Mordechai, why do you disobey the King's command? Now, Mordechai not bowing, really kicked Haman off. And to make it worse, Haman finds out that Mordechai is a Jew. So as a result of that, Mordechai now is in trouble. But not only just Mordechai. All the Jews are in trouble because now an Agagite is in power. And now he can do what his family's always wanted to do. And that is to exterminate all of God's children. And that's the plan.

You see this guy named Haman, this Agagite, the bad guy, the villain, right? He comes up with a plan to exterminate every single Jew on the planet, and he comes out at a time where Persia is an incredible control and he is now number two. He goes to the king, He somehow passes it to the king. The king is obviously not interested in day to day operations as much as he is in 180 day parties, he says, Yeah, go for it, Do what you want to do as long as you're doing it. They dispatch the message and now there is a date set to kill every single Jew on this planet from Ethiopia to Iran, Iran over to Israel, every single Jew. This edict says to kill. Now, Mordechai, remember I said, he's in the know. Mordechai hears of the plan. He hears of what's about to happen, and he sends a message to his cousin, Esther, the Queen, and watch what he says. Verse chapter four, verse 11. He says, All the king's officials. He says, You've got to do something. Watch this. All the king's officials and people, Esther says of the royal providence, know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned, the king has but one law that they be put to death unless the king extends the golden scepter to them and spares their lives. But 30 days have passed since I was called to go into the King. Mordechai says, Esther, you've got to do something. Esther. Like, I haven't even seen the king in 30 days. I can't just bust in to see the king. If I bust in to see the king, he can kill me. Mordecai stands up and brings the voice of reason and says this in verse 13. He says, Do not think just because you're in the King's house that you alone, of all Jews, will escape. For you if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews, it will have to arise from another place. But you and your father's family will perish. And who knows? Here's a line. You know it. But you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.

Man, let me ask you something. What God, what position has God put you in? Because I guarantee you you're in one. What has God done in your life and where is he putting you right now? Every time I read that line that God has put me in this position, I have to think to myself and I always think to myself, God, where have you put me? What have you put in my life that I have been called to stand in the gap for? God, what position have you given me that I need to leverage for your kingdom? What power? What talent? What ability have you given me? What influence have you given me? What audience have you given me for such a time as this one? And I can just feel the tension. Well, Matt, you literally have an audience, but I don't. Yes, you do. You have an audience in your school. You have an audience in your family. You've got an audience in your neighborhood. You've got an audience at your workplace. And maybe, just maybe, we need to start thinking like the Esther's of the world that see the fact that God has made us for this time.

Listen, Christ followers, listen to the simile between us right here. We are royal. Jesus has delivered us from darkness, made us His sons and daughters. We are now heirs of the King, and we have been called to stand for this generation, just like Esther was called to stand for hers for such a time as this. And they're going to perish unless we stand. So what happens? Esther finally responds to Mordecai. She's like alright, ok. I get it. I get it. I get it. She goes to get everybody to pray, everybody fasting. In chapter four verse 14, it says, When this is done, Esther says, I will go to the king. And even though it is against the law, she says this: If I perish, I perish. Man, what a statement of faith she gives us.

Listen, can I just say this? Man, there are very few things in our lives that we have to make that bold of a stand for. But there are so many things in our lives that we need to make a bold stance for. Let me ask you something. Are you looking at your life right now and go, I man, I do. I have to stand and I have to make a stand. And if I perish, I perish. If this area falls. It falls. If this goes away, it goes away. Esther makes a stand. And I'm just going to say it. We need more Esthers to stand. We need them. We need them. We need them, We need them. We've got to get away from this idea of I just need to rise up myself. And what happens, happens. No, no, no. God is going, you are here for this. Even though you might not be hearing him right now. All right. Write this one down. Number four. Let's keep moving. While you can always see God, God sees and he blesses every act of obedience. Now let's watch what God does and you better pay attention because it's about to get good. You think soap operas are good? Watch what's about to happen in the story. Esther stands. Her stand begins. She gets ready, she goes into the inner court, she goes into the palace. She knows she's scared. And the king is still blown away. He's swooning over her beauty. He raises his scepter up, he invites her in and the king says, What do you want me to do for you?

The King says, I'll do anything. Up to 50% of my kingdom is yours. And Esther says, I would love nothing more than for you and Haman to come to a banquet. And he's like, You don't what the kingdom? She's like, No, I want you and your number two to come to a banquet with me. So he goes, Okay, we'll do it. Both of those guys, the bad guy, Haman and the king go to this banquet with Esther that evening and nothing happens at the banquet. She never brings up this extermination plan. And so what happens to Haman? Haman goes home and this incredibly big villain, and incredibly proud of himself. Why? He is now in the top group. If you think about it, he is now. He had dinner with the queen, with the king, and now he's on his way home that night. He is strutting his stuff. Haman walks past the city gates that night. Everybody bows down in front of Haman except for who? You guessed it, Mordechai. Right. Mordechai doesn't bow again. This takes Haman over the top. That night, he gets so mad, he orders for a gallows or this huge pole, 75 feet tall, to be built beside his house.

Because first thing that next morning he is going to take care of this Jew named Haman. And he is going to put him and impale him on this pole. He is hot. Well, that same night, evidently, the king went home from that party, had a little bit of indigestion, and could not sleep. Something was going on in his life. And so the king calls out for one of his servants. He says servant, bring to me something and read it over me so that I can go to sleep. Come read me a little bedtime story servant. The servant runs down to the library, grabs the book, the annual for the last month of what's happening in the kingdom and, catch this, he opens up the book and all of a sudden he starts to read. And he reads the story of a guy named Mordecai that saves the king's life. And Mordecai stops him in his tracks and says, What do we do for this guy? The servant looks at the king. He says, I don't know what we did for this guy.

We did nothing. It says in the book, for this guy. The king says, Well, I'm going to take care of that first thing in the morning. Well, fast forward, the sun comes up, he has some coffee, the king goes into the office. Guess who's standing at the door waiting on him, coming into the office. It's the evil villain. Who? Haman. Right. Haman is still so mad at Mordechai. He built the gallows. The pole was ready. He is ready to ask the king to kill this guy to begin his Jewish extermination. But you can't speak to the king until the King speaks to you. Well, the king had an agenda that day because of his little bedtime story, Right. So the king looks at his trusted servant, this evil guy, Haman, and he looks at him and says this to him. Esther, 6:6. When Haman entered the King asked him what should be done for the man who the king delights to honor. Now, Haman thought of himself. Look at what he said, who was there that the king would rather honor than me? So Haman answers. He says, Give him a royal robe. Give him a royal horse, give him the royal crest. And he said, Lead him He's a king. Listen, lead him through the streets. You could just see him strutting a little bit, lead him through the streets and let somebody yell in front of him. This man deserves the honor of the king. This man the king loves. Listen, the king loves this. He's like, man, Haman, that is an incredible idea. You are so smart. I need you right now to go get Mordecai and do this for him. You can't make that up. Go get Mordecai, do this for Mordecai. And then he looks at him and says, listen Haman, I want you to be the guy that proclaims this in front of Mordecai. You know, he is hot. You know, he is angry, but he has to do it. He does it that day. And then that evening, the second banquet happens that Esther invites him to.

So they go to the banquet that night and Esther tells the king that night about the extermination plan against the Jews. She tells him that night also that his queen is a Jew, that she is a Jew, and that she is in danger. And the King gets angry. The king looks at her and says, Who is behind this plan? And look at it in chapter seven, verse five, it says this. King Xerxes asks Queen Esther, Who is he? Where is he, the man who was dared to do such a thing? Now remember who's at the banquet, right? And Esther said, It's an adversary, it's an enemy, and it's this vile, Haman. You gotta love this story. This is incredible. And when she says it, the Bible says that the king loses it. What happens when the king gets mad? Same thing he did earlier when he got mad at the queen, right? What does he do? He storms out of the room, right? He does it again in chapter seven. But this time he storms out of the room to cool his jets a little bit, and Haman doesn't know what to do. He knows he's caught. He knows that he's in trouble. He knows he is going down for this. And then he also knows the only thing that he can do is plead for his life in front of this queen that happens to be a Jew. He's in a terrible situation.

He jumps out of his seat, He begins to run over to the queen that is laying down on a couch. I don't know why she's lying now. This is what they did. It's in the Bible. She's laying down on the couch. He trips on his way to her, falls face down on to the queen. At that very moment, the king gathers himself in Esther seven, verse eight. He walks back into the room and he thinks that this guy is violating his queen. The King exclaimed in verse eight. Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in my house? And then what happens? The king orders Haman to be executed. But not just executed. To be executed on the next gallows. The next poll available in the kingdom, which just happens to be what? You're feeling it? It happens to be the one that Haman built for Mordechai earlier. This man was executed on a pole he built for someone else last night. You can't make this up. The hand of God is weaving the story through. Stay with me for a minute. It just so happens, let me walk through it. The Queen Vashti says No. It just so happens that Esther is drafted into this contest and she wins. She becomes a Jewish queen. It just so happens that Mordecai loves her and is in the right place at the right time to tell her the plan. It just so happens she gets in front of the king to tell him about what the plan is happening. It just so happens that Hammond is so mad at the Jews that he builds the gallows. It just so happens the king can't sleep that night. And here's the plan of how Mordecai saves his life. It just so happens that Haman is the one that has to honor Mordecai. It just so happens that Haman is impaled on his home pole. And it just so happens that in this very moment, after he dies, Esther is given his estate. Mordecai was given the role of Prime Minister for this whole land. And it just so happens a new plan is hatched to save the Jews and all of God's people are saved. That's what happens when God begins to orchestrate all of the events. Listen, there is no such thing as just so happens. It's God's people walking in God's plans saying yes to the Lord even when we don't see him moving.

And also on top of all of this, it just so happens that of the Jewish families that is saved that day is the same family that a little girl named Mary has an angel visit her to tell her that she is going to bear a son, the Messiah named Jesus. One act of obedience when they weren't even sure, but they stood in the character and then the love and the mercy of who Jesus is. Write this down, number five. Here's the last one. While we can always see God, God never lets us out of His sight and his heart is to save us. It's just to save us. What an amazing story. Look at the last verses in Esther eight. It says this. When Mordecai left the King's presence, he was wearing the royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen.

He's walking away into the sunset, isn't he? And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration. It gets better. Watch this. For the Jews, it was a time of happiness, joy, gladness, and honor. Listen. They haven't been able to have any of those things in the last hundred years until right here. God delivers them. Verse 17, it gets even better. In every Province and in every city to which the edict of the king came. There was joyous gladness among the Jews with feasting and celebration and many people of other nationalities, watch this, became Jews because the fear of the Jews had seized them. Esther takes a stand. And not only does she save herself, not only did she save her family, not only save her kingdom, she saves all of the people of God.
She didn't save them. God saved them. But God used her to stand in the gap for them and to share his love all over Persia, all over. You know, sometimes when we feel like God is silent.

Listen, this is where I want to leave you walking today. God is not silent. God is working. Our role is not to understand it. It's to step into it with a resounding yes. I don't get it. It doesn't matter. I don't understand if. It doesn't matter. It doesn't make sense on paper. It never does. But God is able to move. He's able to move. This is not just a story. This is the hand of God shaping the people of God in the culture of Persia into saving his people. God has a plan, and what He's asking from you and asking for me is my and your faithfulness. Our role is to say yes, and trust God with the rest. Let me remind you believers, as we finish and move into our invitation. That you were divinely appointed for this moment, will you stand?

Lord Jesus, God, we know there are so many times in our lives where we just struggle to see you move. God, I pray that in our struggle, Lord, you help us recall the story of Esther and how even in the moment where your word was never spoken, you were moving. God, you promised us you're never going to leave us. You're never going to forsake us. You promised us that you make all things work together for the good of those who love you and are called according to your purpose. God, you promise where you call us, you give us the ability to walk. You promise for your children that you will illuminate our paths. Lord Jesus, today, move in us, move in our hearts. Show us how we can stand for you. Even when we don't know where you're going. Thank you Lord Jesus. Thank you Lord Jesus for offering us life, forgiveness, grace and the abundant life. It's in your name.

Amen. Amen.

Would you stand with me today? Listen, during this time of invitation, let me ask you something. Do you need to give you a life to Jesus today? Do you need to surrender your heart to Jesus today? You just need to say yes. Maybe today you just need somebody to pray with you today. I'm going to be over here to the side. I've got six or seven other people that are ready to walk with you and pray over you. Man, where do you need God to do in your life? Just to say yes. Let's sing together.

Follow Along with the Message

When We Don’t See God (Esther)

August 27, 2023

PRINCIPLE: Just because we don’t clearly see God’s plan or hear God’s direction in this does not mean that; He does not want us to stand for Him and He is not moving in an amazing way to save us.

Esther 1:4–5
4 For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. 5 When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa.
Esther 1:8
By the king’s command each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions…
Esther 1:10–11
10 On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him — Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Karkas — 11 to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at.
Esther 1:12
But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.
Esther 2:2
…Let a search be made for beautiful young virgins for the king.
Esther 2:4
“Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.”
While We Cannot Always See God…

1. God is working how He has worked.

Isaiah 55:8–9
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Philippians 1:6
Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Esther 2:7
Esther, had a lovely figure and was beautiful.
Esther 2:17
Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

2. God is always working to position and prepare us to make a for Him.

3. God places wise people into our lives to show His compassion and His .

Esther 3:1
After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles.
Esther 3:2–3
2 All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor. 3 Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?”
Esther 4:11
“All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”
Esther 4:13–14
13 …“Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
Esther 4:16
When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

4. God sees and blesses every of obedience.

Esther 6:6
When Haman entered, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?”
Esther 7:5–6
5 King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he — the man who has dared to do such a thing?” 6 Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!”
Esther 7:8
…The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”

5. God never lets us out of His sight and His heart is to us.

Esther 8:15–17
15 When Mordecai left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration. 16 For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. 17 In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.
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