Coincidence
Happy Sabbath kitchen class.
Once again I am out of town at the MPA graduation. I hate being away but that is how it goes this time of year! A huge thanks to Robert for teaching last week and again this week! What a blessing it is to have friends who help you out in times of need!!!!
Question of the day: This is the season of graduations, (I have been to 5 in the last two weeks, another one this weekend and two more next week.) share a graduation memory.
This past weekend I was at Nosoca Pines for the Elders retreat. The guest speaker was Dr. Doug Jacobs from Southern Adventist University. Friday night he spoke about finding the gospel in bible passages. It was a powerful presentation. My favorite quote was "Legalistic conclusions add burdens; Gospel conclusions bring freedom." I hope that has been your experience in this class. I will say I have a new found commitment to make sure we are always seeking the Gospel conclusions. What that means is we will always be looking for the power of God in the passage. It should be about what he has done and what He has promised to do, not about us. Keep that in mind as we move forward.
Today we are studying Esther chapter 6.
READ: Esther 6
6 That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. 2 It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
3 “What honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this?” the king asked.
“Nothing has been done for him,” his attendants answered.
4 The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set up for him.
5 His attendants answered, “Haman is standing in the court.”
“Bring him in,” the king ordered.
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?” 7 So he answered the king, “For the man the king delights to honor, 8 have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head.9 Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!’”
10 “Go at once,” the king commanded Haman. “Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended.”
11 So Haman got the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city streets, proclaiming before him, “This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!”
12 Afterward Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief, 13 and told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him.
His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him—you will surely come to ruin!” 14 While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquet Esther had prepared.
Have you ever had a hard time sleeping? Mark W. makes a living because there are so many of us that have issues with sleep. Here the King was having a hard time sleeping. Without Netflix or cable he chose to have someone come and read him the records of the court.
What an interesting thing to do if you can't sleep. Perhaps it was similar to reading the dictionary. Something boring that would help him sleep. Perhaps it was a desire to hear how awesome he was, who knows why. Or do we know why?
What do you do when you can't sleep?
Why do you have a hard time sleeping?
Why was the king having a hard time sleeping?
When I started looking for the power of God in this story, wow, did it all make sense. This story is filled with coincidence, or is it?
The king can't sleep, he happens to ask for the records, they happen to read the very record that recorded what Mordecai did, then he asked who was around and Haman happened to be there... REALLY?
The details in this story speak to one thing! The power of God.
God working out his providence.
Can you remember a time when there was a string of coincidences that later you saw the hand of God working in and through it all?
Is there danger in giving God too much credit?
Should we always attribute all that happens to him?
Let me say the answer is NO!
We get into some really crazy ideas when we believe that God is in control of everything. When tragedies happen like someone being murdered, we shouldn't assume that it is God working out His providence.
So this is a crazy complicated subject.
What I do know:
1. We are not puppets. We have choice and can choose. Because of that choice we sometimes choose to make decisions that are not in our best interest. We sometimes make choices that hurt people. That is NOT part of God's plan.
2. God keeps his covenant with us! He is a God who keeps his word and that I can count on.
3. He is Sovereign and can take what Satan means to harm us and turn it into something for out good.
4. He is constantly trying to guide us and to walk with us, speak with us, impress us in how to move, if we will listen.
5. We are in a battle, but if we are his we are on the winning side!
I'm not sure this answers the difficult question of when we give God credit or not. I would like to suggest that it doesn't matter. We don't need to know! I realize that can drive us all crazy! Think about it. Think about all the players in this story.
1. Esther, taken from her home, becomes queen. Risks her life. She is getting ready to tell the king to save her life. She doesn't realize the king can't sleep. She doesn't realize that he asks for the records to be read. She doesn't see all that is happening! She doesn't see God working out his providence in her life. But He is.
2. Mordecai, did a great thing by saving the kings life and gets nothing in return. Then is told to bow to a man who gets respect for NOTHING. Then he and his people are to be put to death. Not looking like God is working!
3. The children of God, they have no idea any of this is going on. They are without any protection and they now know their days are numbered. I'm sure many of them were saying, or thinking, "If only we had left when we could. It is our own fault! Now there is nothing we can do. God must be really mad at us!"
If they tried, none of them could see God working out his providence. In fact you could say they were seeing the exact opposite.
Perhaps that is the greatest lesson for us to learn from this passage. God is working out His providence in our lives, and he is there even when everything seems completely hopeless. We don't need to try to FIND or CREDIT God with it all. He just asks that we trust Him.
REST in the knowledge that just like in the time of Esther, when we find ourselves in a seemingly Godless situation, HE IS STILL THERE!
Sometimes we are faced with decisions or situations where we don't have all the information or we can't see the big picture.
How do we navigate those times?
We get a clue from some unlikely players at the end of this chapter.
Read verse 12 and 13.
12 Afterward Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief, 13 and told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him.
His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him—you will surely come to ruin!”
What did they say to Haman?
Why would they say this?
What were they referring to?
What they KNEW is that God had protected his people. He had delivered His people. They had seen how he had worked in the past and were now giving God credit for working on behalf of His people again.
When we can't see God, when we can't see the whole picture those are the times when we have to rely what God has done for us in the past. Those are the times when we have to rely on His word, His promises and then step forward in faith. We don't have to know all the details of what He is or is not doing. We are just called to trust in Him!
I think it is important for us to give God credit when we know that is where credit needs to go and there ARE times when we are certain. However, it is more important that we not worry about knowing all the little and even big moments, but that we learn to rely and trust on him and trusting means NOT KNOWING just trust!
Back in October when Chris lost his job we never dreamed that in May we would still be looking and trying to find the next step. We have prayed and we have tried to see His providence in our lives, but ultimately it is the not knowing that TRUST comes into play. If we knew we wouldn't have to TRUST!
I know each of us has things in our lives that require us to trust in Him. Maybe it is in your marriage. Maybe in your work, or in the lives of your kids, or maybe you are in bondage and can't seem to find a way out. Maybe no matter what you have done, you just can't seem to see an light in any direction. No matter how bleak, just know that we serve a mighty loving God who is working in your life! He is right there! It may not be in the way you think it should, or in your timing, but He is there! He has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us. He has promised that he is coming back to take us home. He has promised that he has already paid the price. He has promised that He loves your kids more than you! He has promised that all things will work together for good. This whole book of Esther is about the power of God! He wasn't given credit for it! He wasn't spoken of, but this book is not about a brave queen, or just a girl, or a wise cousin, it is about a powerful God who keeps His promises! Will you put your trust in HIM?
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