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When God Is Silent | For Such a Time As This
What do you do when God feels silent? Esther 1 reminds us that even in a world filled with uncertainty—when governments fail, people disappoint us, and life feels shaky—God is still fully in charge.
In this sermon, Pastor Mark Carter unpacks the cultural and historical context of Esther and helps us see how God’s sovereignty and wisdom shine through, even when we can’t see or hear Him clearly.
👉 Learn how to trust God when everything else feels untrustworthy.
👉 See how God is the most in charge and comparably wise in every season.
👉 Discover what it looks like to live with faith when God seems silent.
What do we do when we're a little bit afraid that somebody, somewhere, is pulling the strings and might be negatively affecting us, might not have our best interest in mind?
Speaker 1:You know, between 1960 and 1971, the Vietnam War really produced a lot of distrust in the American people of the government. There were a series of papers released the Pentagon Papers and it came out that more than one administration had been lying to the public and not really being honest about how things were going or what the ultimate aims were, and the trust in our government took a real hit. Well then, the Watergate scandal happened hit. Well then, the Watergate scandal happened. So between 1972 and 1974, trust just again began to tank and a Gallup poll said 70% in the late 1960s of people, of Americans, trusted the government. By 1974, 40% trusted the government and it has never really recovered well since that time.
Speaker 1:In my, my lifetime, during the Iraq war, there was a lot of patriotism. There was a lot of feeling like there had to be some kind of response for 9-11, but there was also, it came out, there was decisions made and choices made that made people question the Iraq war itself. See, it was predicated on this idea that there's weapons of mass destruction somewhere, and that was like trusted intelligence. And when that didn't come through, it was not only that. Hey, I don't trust that. The government necessarily is telling us the truth. It became I don't even know that you guys are competent to be doing any of this. So it points this little seed in many of us. How do I know that somebody somewhere isn't trying to do something wrong or not protecting me from something that they should be protecting me from? I mean, isn't the government's job? Isn't that their, like, first job is to protect everybody. What if somebody somewhere across the world is working in a lab right now that's going to create a virus that's going to take out half the planet? How do I know that there's not something nefarious going on behind closed doors? And for some of my conspiracy theory friends, you know this is kind of where you go, man, you live here You're like, well, what about this and what about this, what about this? And that's what I tell you.
Speaker 1:I think now's the time where conspiracy theories even sound more and more plausible and more possible, because, well, some of these things have really happened a little bit, and what we want to do in these moments like this is we want to turn to God. God has the answers that we need about this. In fact, the book of Esther, which we're going to be studying today, but not only today, but throughout the fall has some answers to these kinds of questions. What do we do when someone somewhere might, behind the scenes, be trying to harm us? Because that's actually exactly what is going on for the Jews in the book of Esther. Many of them don't know about it, but that's the primary tension, the primary conflict of the entire story that we're going to take a look at as we studied the book of Esther. We need to make sure that we understand everything that's going on, because it's a cool story and some of you know it, and if you don't know what, you're going to get to know it as we go through the next several weeks. It's a cool story, but we need to understand the bigger picture of the Bible story to understand the book of Esther appropriately.
Speaker 1:So many of you remember Abraham. Okay, abraham is called by God and God says I want you to trust me. I'm going to lead you into a land, I'm going to make you a nation, and I know you and your wife are old and y'all are old. I mean, look at you, you're old and you're old for my glory. See, I haven't given you a child because I want you to be old. I want it to be so obvious that nobody could have made a nation out of this couple unless it was God. They were just too old. There's no way it possibly could have happened.
Speaker 1:And so God says, as you trust me, I'm going to make you a nation. And then he did make him a nation. And then he gives them his law and he makes a deal with them. He says as long as you do what I tell you to do, I'm going to keep you blessed in your own land. You're going to be the envy of the rest of the world. And for like a half a minute it works. They finally get to King David and King Solomon, like there's a king on the throne, kind of supposed to be ruling in God's ways. But it only lasts for about a half a minute, because then they begin to embrace again the ways of the neighbors around them, the very people that God said. I want to make a distinction between you and them and my ways and the ways of the false gods that they follow. And so God had to. He had to do just what he said he would do, okay, well, the deal was, you have to do what I say, otherwise I'm going to stop leaving my hand of blessing on you. And so now you get to go on a timeout, and that's what happened. He sends them into a timeout it's called the exile sends them into a timeout.
Speaker 1:It's going to be 70 years long, and we're at the end of that 70 years now. As we pick it up in Esther, in fact, cyrus has just told a big chunk of the Jews you guys, go back now. Your God has revealed himself to me. I'll even pay for you to get started on your temple. Go ahead and get back there and come back into the land and be God's people again. Maybe now you know God is saying maybe now you can learn to embrace my ways.
Speaker 1:In a little while, nehemiah is going to make a trek back to Jerusalem. He's going to build a wall around Jerusalem, but right now is it's in between that time and there's a population of Jews that are in Persia and they've been here for 70 years now and they're kind of comfortable, but they're still the carriers of the promise. See, the original promise that was made to Abraham was not only am I going to make you a great family, but it's through your family that I'm going to bless all the families of the world, cause I'm not just going to give you land and I'm not just going to give you wealth. I'm going to, I'm going to bless your seed and bring the seed of the woman that was prophesied that her seed would crush the head of the serpent. See, that's, that's the whole problem. That's the whole. It's important that there's a family, because there's there's this one seed that's going to come down through the line and it's ultimately going to be Jesus Christ is going to bless all the families of the world and since that very first time, there's been spiritual forces of darkness attacking the family of God, wanting to snuff it out, because what Satan wants more than anything in this time is to keep the Messiah from happening. So he wants to take out the family of God by whatever means he possibly can. So that's where we're going to pick it up as we dive into Esther.
Speaker 1:There'll be a lot of questions here. We'll answer them as we go, but let's jump right in Verse one of Esther one this is what happened during the time of Xerxes. The Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush. They're saying he ruled a lot of land, he had a lot of stuff, he was important, at least to them. At that time, king Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Medea, the princes and nobles of the provinces were present for a full 180 days. He displayed his vast wealth of his kingdom and splendor and glory and majesty. Six months.
Speaker 1:He has this giant party and what he's doing. We actually know from corroborating extra biblical history that this was 483 BC. There was a great war council that Xerxes held and the war council was about we're going to go attack the Greeks. That's what we're going to do. And so he invites all of his generals and all of his officials and all of his people. He says let's have a big six month party and I'm going to show you all my stuff. The point of the text is saying hey, this was lavish, dude, this was opulent. He's got all this stuff and he's showing it off. He's like we're going to go so destroy the Greeks. I want to stir everybody up and get them excited. This is what we're going to do. We're the most important people in the world and he's stirring them up to go to war showing them all of his incredible stuff.
Speaker 1:Verse eight by the king's command, each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, but the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man what he wished. Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes. Okay, two things right there. One Queen Vashti. She's a figure, she's a new important character in this entire story. In some ways, she's the greater context for the person of Esther in the entire narrative. So she appears she's about to be really important. But there's also this idea of hey, just everybody, just drink, just drink, drink, drink, drink, drink. That's what he's saying. For six months straight, we're going to have a party and you're just going to drink. By the way, after that six month party, then they have one more party to celebrate the six month party that they just had.
Speaker 1:And what we need to understand not only is, obviously, if everyone's drinking constantly is there a ton of debauchery like rampant, but we also wouldn't intuit that in this time. Part of the way that they made councils and made war, the way that they got their great ideas, was they thought we can connect greater to the spiritual world if we get intoxicated. We're going to be more open to wise counsel. And so they'd get drunk and they'd make decisions, write them down so that when they sobered up, they could look at their decisions. Yeah, is that nuts? For anyone who's been drunk, you're like, wow, that's a way to rule. And so that's what? Now? To be fair, sometimes they would be like, I don't know, man, that was a dumb decision, let's not do that. But by and large, that's how they thought. They were like, hey, we can get better victories if we go ahead and everybody's drinking, okay, so, yeah, this is what's happening Now.
Speaker 1:I'll point out just one thing to notice the people that are reading the book of Esther later. Here's a couple of things that they know. One the attack on the Greeks has already happened and they lost. Okay, so they lost. So they're looking back at this, this little play playing out, and they're all triumphant already. They, they're going to lose, but they think they're not going to lose, and they're full of opulence and they're full of celebration and they're full of everybody's partying and drinking and trying to get the advice of the gods, and everybody in the future knows that this is a little bit humiliating to these people. The text is trying to say these guys are kind of dim-witted, they're like, they're not too bright. That's what they're saying about these folks Now.
Speaker 1:Verse 10, on the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine okay, so, dude, he's gone there. Now he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him we're just going to skip their names because there's no use in trying to pronounce them. Verse 11, to bring before all these eunuchs. Go, 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. Okay so Xerxes got all this stuff, he's got all this opulence, he's got all this riches, and he says you know, guys? Verse 12. But when the attendants delivered the king's command, queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.
Speaker 1:A couple of things are happening here. We know from scholars that queens, they were supposed to sit next to their husbands, but when the drinking got especially rowdy they would depart and the dancing girls would come out and the concubines. Okay, so let's, let's. Even though he's married, he's got an entire harem manly. It's not that there's a bunch of faithfulness here, but there's a certain amount of respect that is supposed to be shown to the queen. And so when he says instead, hey, no, you come out and parade just like all the other ones, because you're my prize and I want all my other guys, I want them to see you, so they know just how dope I am she just says, for whatever reason, that would be shaming to her. But then she kind of shames him back by saying, no, I'm not coming, I am not coming out. Well, you can guess what happens next.
Speaker 1:Verse 16, or before we get to 16, he goes nuts and he gathers his counselors, his guys around, his war counselors. He says what are we going to do about this? This girl, can you believe what she did? I can't believe it. I'll tell you what we ought to do. Let's make some laws to make sure this never happens again. Don't miss the humor that's in this. Okay, these guys are going to lose against this epic challenge that they're going to face. They're going to lose against the Greeks. And this writer is looking back to the inspired writers looking back and saying and they're worried about stupid things like this.
Speaker 1:Verse 16, then Mimucan is one of the guys replied in the presence of the King of the nobles. Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the King, but also against all the nobles and the peoples of the provinces of King Xerxes, for the queen's conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come. This very day, he says, the Persian and Medean women of nobility who have heard about the queen's conduct will respond to all the king's nobles in the same way. There'll be no end to the disrespect and discord. They've been drinking a little bit, okay, so they're, they're a little bit focused on, maybe, stuff that is not really as important as they're making it. Therefore, if it pleases the king, let it make sure a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Medea, which cannot be repeated, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes and let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she.
Speaker 1:Wow, okay, guys. So, um, yeah, that is that's we know now that that's ridiculous, but they're like this is what we're going to do. We're going to punish her for what she's done and we're gonna make sure all the other gals know don't ever do what she did. So there's a serious note that we're supposed to be paying attention to here, and that is you know they are. They're kind of dimwitted sometimes, but these guys are also powerful. I mean what they did. They're going to send their little pony express and that pony express is going to go all around all these 127 provinces and they're going to let everybody know hey look, man, you better make sure that these ladies respect however that might be interpreted their husbands, and they have the power to reinforce that.
Speaker 1:And so what we need to understand about this is the context of Esther. Is these guys dude? They are the evil empire. Okay, they may be funny sometimes, sometimes, but you don't cross them. You better watch your mouth, because I might just be nice and not decide to cut out your tongue. Like they have real weight. They have real. There are powers in our lives that they have real weight. They can really do stuff, and yet, like these, this war council of keen zertsies, there's people in high places and you know this, you've seen this. There's people in high places, whether it's the government building or it's just you know at your job. There's people in high places.
Speaker 1:That how did you get in charge? How are you here? Can you believe these guys are running the show? And I've thought that to myself sometimes. How did you get in charge here?
Speaker 1:I remember when I was delivering pizzas and the first day I walked into okay, I'm going to deliver pizzas for Domino's and I met the people who were in charge and I was like you're in charge, how are you in charge? Like I just can't believe, knowing what I already know about you, that they let you be in charge of anything. Now, I'm sure people have thought that about me, so I can't be too mad at them. But you know, it's common, it's normal to have frustration with incompetent and foolish leadership, and it's common and appropriate to ask how is this even possible? Like, why are these people in charge?
Speaker 1:And one of the things the Bible is trying to point out every time it points out incompetent leadership, it's trying to point out do you see this? Do you see how, even in the places that should be making all the wise and good decisions. There's a lack of wise leadership, and even when they are wise, like Solomon, they're not wise enough and it's trying to imply there's a void here, there's something missing, and that thing is a really wise and really good king. See, when our first parents left the rule of the really wise and really good God and said, no, we'll take it from here, we can do it ourselves, they ran into eventually, through their children and children and children and children, all kinds of situations where dumb people are in charge. They shouldn't be in charge. They need a true king, a good king, a benevolent king, a wise king who's in charge of an unshakable kingdom. They need Jesus Christ, which is what the entire Bible is trying to tell us the people of God. So the people in Esther and the people of God today.
Speaker 1:What do we need to do? Hey, what do we need to do? We need to recognize that we need to not fear. We need to refuse to fear the plans and the powers and the pettiness of the evil empire, whether it's individuals in our lives, whether it's organizations or governments in our lives, and we do that by reflecting on who God is. I'm going to resist fear. What are we talking about? We're talking about fear really today. We're talking about fear. I'm going to resist fear and I'm resist it by reflecting on who God is. There's things that could go wrong, there's things that could happen, but I'm going to resist fear by focusing on who is this God that has made me promises and how am I supposed to think about his promises?
Speaker 1:There's some things we need to understand about the book of Esther as we go into this. The first is the book of Esther really is a rescue mission, just like the entire Bible is a rescue mission. It's a rescue mission to rescue the folks that are in bondage to sin and, in many cases, their own stupidity, their own dumb rule rulers that they either are or they appoint. There's also something else going on that you're going to see a little bit later. There's a classic enemy. There's a wicked guy we're going to meet him named Haman, and he's not only has it's like he's inspired by Satan Almost he wants to kill the people of God, to destroy the seed of God that's what he wants to do but he's also kind of he's related to an old enemy. That, for those who know about this if you don't, that's okay. For those who know about this. He's related to an old enemy, an Ammonite, that King Saul once upon a time should have destroyed and he didn't. And there's this relative left who is going to bring fury on the Jews. That's what he's going to try to do.
Speaker 1:One other thing we need to know, and we've talked about it a little bit, but in the book of Esther, god is absolutely silent. He didn't say anything. In fact, he's not even talked about directly, been talked about directly Mordecai, a guy we're going to meet. He does, he alludes to him or talks about the fact that there's a God in charge, but it's very purposeful that God has not mentioned. It's the only book of the Bible where God has not mentioned and he's not a character doing things visibly, and that is because God wants us to know.
Speaker 1:There are times when we are in situations that it doesn't seem like God is doing anything. Do you have anything like this? Or it seems like I feel like maybe once upon a time God said something about this, but here I still am and here I still am, going through, and what I know is I'm not delivered and I feel like there's dumb people in charge and I feel like my thing is not moving forward, or maybe just maybe God forgot about me, or maybe all the important people have already gone, maybe I'm just left behind because I'm not important you might've thought that if you were a Jew in this time because you know, god actually already released the Jews and many of them went back to Jerusalem Maybe they're the only ones that matter and I don't matter because God's like well, I got this, I don't need you. You ever felt like that Maybe? Well, god's got them, he doesn't need me. He probably doesn't care really what happens to me. He's already got his plan, he's already got his people, he's already doing his thing. He probably doesn't need to care about me.
Speaker 1:What we're going to learn in this series is, even when God seems hidden or silent, he's still guiding his people, he's still keeping his promises, and what we're going to see is he's doing it through very high stakes circumstances, sometimes very low stakes circumstances, but through the everyday choices people make that don't necessarily seem like God is in them, but he's still doing it. Thanks for the amens from the hungry people. Keep them coming. Three things to remember when God is in them, but he's still doing it. Thanks for the amens from the hungry people. Keep them coming. Three things to remember when God is silent. Three things to remember when God is silent. Number one dude.
Speaker 1:God is just the most in charge. He's just the most in charge. Okay, it doesn't matter if the evil empire has a plan. The evil empire cannot thwart God's plans. He just can't. They just can't do it.
Speaker 1:God is a theological term. We call it sovereign. He's demonstrates his sovereignty. That means he is, he's the most in charge. That means he owns everything and does whatever he wants, whatever's right, whatever is good according to his own intellect, according to his own wisdom, according to his own counsel. He does whatever he wants to with his stuff. He has the right to do it because it's his. That includes you and me, all the humans, all the animals, all the governments, all the years, all the millennia. They're all his and he does whatever he wants at the right time. And check this out in his sovereignty he can't be challenged. Nobody can challenge him, nobody, even those who would presume to don't have any idea what they're talking about.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's pretend that you and I together we walk into the laboratory of a rocket scientist and we start poking around and we say what does this do? Why are you doing it this way? I don't like this over here. What's this for? And we're just poking around and maybe this rocket scientist is exceedingly kind and says guys, guys tell you, you don't know the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the questions you even should ask. So I don't need to answer you what I'm doing with all my things. You don't have your own lab. You don't necessarily know.
Speaker 1:In the same way, if we go just accusing God of this, that and the other thing, say you should run it like this or I think it should be this way, in his sovereignty, god says, yeah, you don't know the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the beginning of the questions. You would even have to ask to understand this slightly, even if you had the hardware where you possibly could understand it. And, by the way, you don't have a universe I. You don't have a rocket scientist lab I. You can't do any of this anyway. So who are you to instruct your God about how or what he should do? This is what we mean by guys. He's not mean about it, he's actually very friendly, but he's unchallengeable. You don't, you can't challenge him. You don't understand the things to be able to challenge him. He is a hundred percent sovereign. He's sovereign. We see in the book of Esther even we're to find out even the removal of Queen Vashti is God's sovereignly interacting. Even the anger and the psychopath counsel that is called to make this law is happening within the sovereignty of God. Because what does God need? We're going to find out. God needs a queen on his throne, that is his girl, that he can direct to do what he needs her to do to save the people of the promise, so the sea can be preserved. God knows what to do, he of the promise, so the sea can be preserved. God knows what to do. He knows the end from the beginning.
Speaker 1:Many of you are familiar with one of the greatest movies ever made Avengers, infinity War and you've heard me talk about this before and you might say Carter, why do you always talk about this movie? And my question to you is well, why not talk about this movie? But you might be familiar with one of the awesome, pivotal scenes. It's when Dr Strange is looking forward into all the 14 million possible conclusions or outcomes of the Avengers fighting Thanos and it comes out that only one in 14 million is the one that can really work. Well, dr Strange has the power to look into the future, and you might think that God, that's what God does. He looks into the future and sees all outcomes possible. But God isn't like Dr Strange. He's not limited the way Dr Strange is. See. God doesn't need to look into the future. God writes the future.
Speaker 1:God is the one who decides what is going to happen. He's not in the movie, he's outside of the movie, writing the movie. That's what God is doing. God is 100% sovereign. God is the most in charge.
Speaker 1:Okay, so in the book of Esther, what you're going to see is you're going to see, it's almost like there's these weird dominoes that are falling and they just seem like they're in random places, and I don't understand why this is happening. And that's because God knows where the dominoes need to be to fall in the right way to do what he needs to happen. What seems like just coincidence random coincidence, we find out later is God's providence, and what providence means is it's God's use of his sovereignty to benefit those that he loves. He knows how to set it up, baby. He knows what to do. So what do we do? How to set it up, baby. He knows what to do. So what do we do?
Speaker 1:Well, we trust him. We trust that he's leading us in a way that is actually beneficial for us. That means, when you're in the relationship and it doesn't really work the way that you want it to, and you're heartbroken, you're like God, why is this happening? It's not time we say God, why is this happening? It's not time we say God, I trust that your no, if it's from you, is as good as your yes, if it's from you. I can trust that you are sovereign. You know where all the dominoes go.
Speaker 1:I can trust that my blueprint for my life I see my blueprint not happening. I know God could affect and make my life go according to my blueprint. He's not, and so I choose to trust him. I see, I choose to step back and look at. Look at my coming fears and my current fears and the dreads that may be somebody somewhere in high places and manipulating things and causing things to maybe go bad for me. I look at all that through the lens.
Speaker 1:Of God is the most in charge. God is the one who's sovereign. He can take care of anything. He knows what's happening. He's not just looking into my future. He writes my future. He's the God that does all of this and can be trusted with it. That means, if I'm still in a painful marriage, even though I feel powerless, I look at it through the lens of God is the most in charge and he knows how and when to place the dominoes so that they fall just right. So three things to remember when God is silent. Number one God is the most in charge. Number two God is incomparably wise. He's incomparably wise. Yeah, that's true. So you may have noticed, xerxes is not consistently wise. He's deaf. Not Watch what else he does in this narrative in the rest of the book. Watch what he does. He's not wise, dude. He's so easily manipulated Like he's talked into stuff. It's like bro, you ain't going to ask any more questions about that thing that you're signing. Are you serious? He's not particularly wise. He often plays the fool and fools are often in charge. In fact, the writer of Ecclesiastes writes this in chapter 10, verse five.
Speaker 1:There is another evil I've seen under the sun Kings and rulers make a grave mistake when they give great authority to foolish people and low positions to people of proven worth. I've seen servants riding horseback like princes and princes walking like servants. And you might think the people who are best at everything should be the ones who get to do everything. The people that work the hardest, the people that have the best heart should be able to be here, there or make the decision. And the Bible just says that's. I wish that were the way, but that's not the way. That is sometimes the way.
Speaker 1:But sometimes you've got people that are in power that do they just do the dumbest things. They've even like they ran on the idea that they're going to help you and they don't even think about you. In fact, even toward their evil ends they're not very smart, like they're not even doing evil wisely, because they're just not wise. You can't trust these people. You can't trust that people in these spaces necessarily have your best in mind, or at your job or whatever fill in the blank. But you can trust the wisdom of God. See, the wisdom of God is God, has eternally, infinity times, all intelligence, all the awareness, all the genius that you would ever need, and he bends all things toward his wisest ends. But he doesn't only like get the wisest things, he takes the wisest way to those things. In other words, friends, god knows the way to go. Yeah, somebody's in charge, and they might be pulling strings I hear that but God knows the way to go and he is most in charge. He's absolutely in charge.
Speaker 1:You might see a situation at some point where you're like no good can come from this. You ever had one of those. You're like there's no way any good comes from this. But you know, that's what Joseph would have thought. When Joseph is in the dungeon, when he's thrown in there for a crime he didn't commit, moses might've thought that when he's in exile from Egypt, here's this guy. Dude, you were supposed to be like the chosen one. You're supposed to like help the people, and now you're kicked out of Egypt. Wow, you wasted your opportunity. You have jacked up God's will congratulations. And some of us might've felt that way sometimes. Wow, dude, you blew that Dang. I guess that's over. And yet it wasn't over for Moses, because God knew what was wisdom, even the cross of Jesus Christ. If you're one of the disciples and you're watching this happen, you're like no good can come from this. And yet the all wise God, the God who's incomparably wise knows what to do. So we've already mentioned one of the greatest movies of all time. Let me mention another one the Karate Kid. Yeah, come on somebody, hey.
Speaker 1:So Daniel LaRusso is being trained by Mr Miyagi. But it's frustrating Daniel, because he doesn't know why he's being told to do all these chores. Remember, he's like, hey, wax on, wax off, sand the floor, paint the fence and paint the house. And he's getting frustrated. He doesn't know why mr miyagi is teaching him this stuff. He's supposed to be helping him with the tournament and so they kind of they get to like a flash point and daniel's starting to go off on him and mr miyagi stops him and in a way, he kind of like challenges him to use the motions that he's been learning by doing all these chores.
Speaker 1:Mr Miyagi was training Daniel's muscle memory by making him do things that didn't make sense to him, didn't make sense to him, didn't make sense to him. You got anything that doesn't make sense, doesn't make sense. This doesn't make sense. God, why are we doing this? I just can't see. God, if you just tell me what to do, I would do it. Why do we do? What is this? Why are we doing this? Is it possible that God is a whole lot more like Mr Miyagi? You're saying I know you don't understand it now. But I'm training you with some muscle memory because later there's going to be a tournament and I need you to have those moves down Meaning. I need you to learn to obey here, because here it's really going to matter. I need you to learn to just like trust me here, because here the stakes are high. I need you to get that muscle memory in because later on you're going to see what the wisdom of God, you're going to see that I saw things you didn't see coming and I know what to do.
Speaker 1:Let me give you another example. Dude, I like to play chess, but I'm not necessarily good at chess. Like I can beat some of the people around me, but if you put me up against anyone that has, like, read a book about it or knows about it, like I'm just toast right away. I could look at the chess board that someone who's kind of good sets up, and I could look at the chess board of a grand master and both I would be like I don't know. I don't know what you're doing, I don't know what those moves are about. I don't know what you're setting up there. That's because I don't know chess. I like I don't know. I'm not the master of it.
Speaker 1:In the same way, god, who is the real chess master of the entire universe. He's setting up the pieces in such a way that ultimately, my friends, it looks random to us. It looks. I don't understand these moves. I don't know why this is going that way and that's going this way. And the reason why it's going that way is because God is setting everybody up for check mate. That's what God's doing. He's getting everything in position for God to win. That's what's happening and for your good and your best and your blessing, that's what God does. I know it looks strange, but what if it's a setup, my friend? What if this thing you don't understand is a setup for checkmate? Well, I thought you'd be louder on that one, but we're going to keep right on going because we're almost there.
Speaker 1:So maybe you weren't chosen for leadership and you really wanted to be. You're like I don't understand this. I don't see why I can't do this right now, and maybe the answer is I'm saying no now so I can say yes to the better thing. It might be that you lost a job that was like. This is like everything I wanted to do. And now I feelailed and maybe, in the wisdom of God. Yeah, but I see where that goes, and that pace is gonna destroy you and it's gonna lead you into all kinds of sin that you don't like. In fact, you even don't like some of that stuff that you think you like. But you're gonna love this. I'm gonna put you here. Your wisdom wouldn't get here because you're not a chess master, esther, but God is, and he knows what to do.
Speaker 1:In the book of Esther, just like in our lives, guys, the wisdom of God is not shouted, it's whispered. It's whispered in detours, it's whispered in the details, it's whispered in reversals that nobody saw coming. Yet God does it because he is all wise. So God is the most in charge. Somebody say the most in charge, he's the most in charge, he's incomparably wise, meaning we're not even going to understand it a little bit sometimes.
Speaker 1:And he remembers those left behind. I love it. He remembers those left behind. If you felt left behind, you felt like the one that didn't matter, the one that doesn't matter. If you get picked at all, you can stay on the bench for all, anybody cares.
Speaker 1:If you're felt like that, you're going to love this God, because this is the God who remembers the left behind Because we might think, well, god, you've already got these people in Jerusalem, the promise is secure, it's all going to happen. Who cares about these other people? Hey, going to die. If there's going to be some decree by Xerxes that they all die, hey, I mean, it's tough, but what are you going to do? The plan of God is still fine and we can feel like maybe it doesn't matter what happens to me. God's going to do his thing and everything's going to be fine with him. So it doesn't matter if my thing doesn't work, it doesn't matter if no one remembers me, it doesn't matter if anyone weighs in for me. Well, precious God will weigh in for you, because God is. This is what he is. Remember, he's sovereign, he's wise and God is faithful and he can't not be. God is faithful. It's just who he is, it's what he does. He's faithful. Again and again, again, whether you see him like how that is going to be faithful or not, whether you see like it feels like God has abandoned you, it feels like God's moved on. It feels like your thing doesn't get to happen. Yeah, I know it looks like that, but God see, god is just faithful. That's just who he is.
Speaker 1:There are times when you try to trace God's hand in your life, like maybe in the book of Esther. You, if you try to trace God's hand in your life, like maybe in the book of Esther, you can't because you can't see it. It's not there. I don't see what God is doing. When you cannot trace his hand, trace his heart on the cross, trace his heart, you say I don't know what God is doing. But you know, I know the kind of thing God would be doing. And the thing he would be doing is being faithful to me. He would be working it for my good. He would be thinking about what's to my best advantage. Even when I've failed him miserably, he's still finding a way to work his faithfulness in. He's not rejecting me. He's going to be faithful to me because he always knows what's going to happen and, just like in chapter nine, when he finally reverses the decree of Haman, he can reverse things overnight. He's always faithful, he's always reliant, he's always stable, he's always steadfast. God is a sure thing, my friends, we're not a sure thing, but God is a sure thing.
Speaker 1:There've been people in your life who they weren't a sure thing. They were like leaning on this. What are you? That's dangerous. They're like leaning on something. Now if I put all my weight on this, I could probably just like push this right down. I can't. I can't lean on this dude. I don't know if the cameras can see this, but if I lean on this dude, this is heavy. I can lean all day. You're safe, don't worry, I can lean all day.
Speaker 1:This is steadfast.
Speaker 1:This is faithful. This is God. God's not moving man, he's not changing. He's going to be faithful to you, no matter what you do, whether you know it, whether you don't know it, whether you're good, whether you're bad. God is going to be faithful, because God is faithful.
Speaker 1:Come on somebody, and what that means is God will come to your rescue, even when it seems like it's past the final hour. Yes, he will. He'll rescue us from sin. He'll rescue us from devils. He'll rescue us from the opinions of other people. He'll rescue us from sometimes our wrong wants, our wrong need to be needed. He'll rescue us from our need to control things. He'll rescue us from our vices. He'll rescue us from being overly impressed with our virtues. He'll rescue us from sin. He'll rescue us from sickness. He'll rescue us from death. Even when it happens, he'll rescue us from it while it's happening, into permanent, eternal life. God will have your back and he will even rescue us from the empire, no matter who's in charge, no matter how harsh it is, no matter what they're doing. Your God will come for you. Yes, he will.
Speaker 1:It's wise to believe it now, and that's what we're learning in Esther this fall. My friends, from the very start of the Bible, from Abraham all the way to Cyrus, all the way to the cross of Jesus Christ, esther is one more chapter in the story of the faithful rescue of God, and it climaxes in Jesus Christ. That's what it is. That's the story that we're in right now. That is what's happening, and so I want to challenge a couple of things. One is see the whole series, watch us online all the time, or come all the time, or both come and then go home and watch it again, because we need to get these virtues of who God is in our spirits.
Speaker 1:But let's also decide we're going to be a people. We're going to practice, we're going to ask for God's help. We're going to look at the dreads that are coming, that you're afraid of. This is going to happen. This is going to happen. We're going to back up and we're to look through the lens of scripture and say God is the most in charge. He's just the most in charge. He is incomparably wise and he will not leave me behind. Uncomfortably wise and he will not leave me behind.
Speaker 1:Let's pray, god. It's so good to hear who you are. Our minds need this medicine. We need to remember this is who you are. Thank you for your word. Thank you that you are faithful to the people in Esther's time and you're going to be faithful in our time.
Speaker 1:I pray, number one, that you'd bless the series, that we would grab ahold of your heart in a way that we just never have before as a church, that we would kind of like upgrade, because we're so impacted by your word. I also pray for the hard, scary things that are out there in front of people right now, and it's, it seems like it's going to end dreadfully. God, we resist the spirit of dread and we decide to put our trust in you, who are most in charge. We thank you that you're always working things together for our good by your wisdom, even when we don't see how the dominoes are going to fall, and you will never leave us behind, no matter what it is, because even when we are faithless, you are going to be faithful in Jesus' name Amen. Tiktok and Instagram Check out our podcasts and check out our blog at fiercechurch slash blog. If you haven't already, please consider sharing this to help people you know take their next step. We'll see you next time.