Do you really believe that things happen for a reason? It’s something that we say a lot of the times, but do we really believe it? Or do we believe that things just happen by random chance or coincidence? Today’s text is going to show us that everything truly does happen for a reason. Today’s part of Esther’s story is going to connect us back to the events in chapters 1 and 2. In case you don’t remember what happened in Esther chapters 1 and 2, here is a quick recap. The king threw a big party. After he had too much to drink, he thought he would show off his beautiful wife. The problem is, she refused to come to him and be shown off. In anger, the king listened to his advisors and removed Vashti as queen. Then, he had to set off a search for the next queen. It was a year long process, but a young Jewish girl named Hadassah, who we know as Esther, finally won the king’s heart and became queen. No one knew it at the time, but this was the sovereign hand of God moving and preparing for what was about to happen in Esther chapters 3 and 4. A wicked man named Haman had risen in power in the king’s court. Haman hated a man named Mordecai. Unknown to Haman, Mordecai was Esther’s uncle. Haman hated Mordecai, because Mordecai refused to bow to Haman when he walked by. Haman, in his anger, decides he doesn’t just want to get rid of Mordecai, he wants to kill all the Jews living in the kingdom. After tricking the king into signing a decree that said he could kill all of the Jews, Haman made sure the decree went throughout the kingdom. When Mordecai read it, he was understandably sad, but then he had a thought. His thought was, I bet Esther can help save us from this wicked plot. So, Mordecai had a message sent to Esther, but Esther wasn’t real receptive to Mordecai’s message. The law of the day was, you didn’t go into the king’s presence unless he summoned you, or he could have you killed. Esther said it had been a month since the king sent for her, so she didn’t see how she could be much help. Not one to give up so easily, Mordecai sent another message back to Esther. This was his message, “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14)?
I will admit, this is one of those verses that often gets taken out of context. However, the message of this verse emphasizes the theme of the book of Esther. The theme is the sovereignty of God. Even when we can’t see what He is up to, God is always working His plan and will out. We find ourselves in very unique times right now. Yet, they are serving a higher and greater purpose. A secondary lesson of this story in Esther 4 is the privilege it is to be used by God. Mordecai was clear, God will deliver the Jews with or without Esther’s help. She could have the privilege of being used by God for His glory and the furthering of His plan, or she could choose not to. Either way, nothing was going to stop God’s plan, and nothing would stop God from fulfilling His promise to always have a remnant of His people. We must always remember, God doesn’t need us to accomplish His will. He doesn’t need us, but He does desire to use us. I think about how churches, including WBC, has had to pivot so quickly during this pandemic. Churches that had very little to no online presence were forced to create one. What would have happened if this crisis would have occurred even 30 years ago, before YouTube, Facebook, and internet capability to live stream something? Can you imagine, millions of people having to use dial- up internet and hear that terrible sound of it connecting? Can you imagine millions of people trying to do that all at the same time? Servers wouldn’t have been able to handle it. However, God made sure to give people the technical know-how to create things like high speed internet, YouTube, Facebook live, etc. years ago, because He knew that this COVID-19 season was coming, and churches would be forced to adapt in order to get the message of the Gospel out in different ways. What I hope your ultimately take away from this part of Esther is this, God is behind the scenes orchestrating events and putting people in places for His purpose. We may not see what it is for or how they or even we fit into His plan, but we do. God never wastes what we go through. We just have to learn to trust Him in it, and that He will bring us through it for His glory and our good.
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin