This is the second post of a series of four from the book of Esther.
Everyday I receive a Bible verse by text from a friend whose ministry Hope for Hurting Parents encourages parents who have children struggling with addictions. Often, her verse of the day is just what I need that very day to hold onto hope and trust God with my child.
One particular day, I received this verse:
For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Ps 108:4
Inattentively, I glanced and thought, “that’s nice” and moved on to check my email. Much to my surprise, the very first email I read closed with, “His faithfulness reaches to the skies!”
Stunned, I stopped and prayed, “Lord, you must really want for me to know that you are faithful!”
God is always at work whether we can see it or not. Sometimes He creatively gets our attention as He did for me that day. Sometimes, He can be more obscure and we can be oblivious to His handiwork.
The primary message of the book of Esther is that “God’s unseen hand guides our lives.”
Often in our day-to-day lives, we do not see His hand, but He is guiding us!
The most unusual thing about the book of Esther is that there is no mention of God’s name anywhere and yet His fingerprints are everywhere.
This summer, a group of women from my church studied the book of Esther in my home and we became Detectives for the Divine looking for clues and evidence of God’s handiwork. We could see the evidence…
- when the downfall of Queen Vashti meant the rising up of Esther for a great purpose; to save her people from destruction.
- when everyone in the palace, including the king, found favor with the beautiful Esther.
- when the pur (the lot) was cast the day before the beginning of the Passover in which the Jews would celebrate their great deliverance from Egypt; a reminder that God was and is their Savior and Deliverer.
- when it just so happened on a night the king could not sleep, the account of how Mordecai, the Jew, uncovered a conspiracy against the king was read to him and he discovered that Mordecai was not honored for such a heroic deed.
- when moments after the king’s discovery, the evil Haman entered the king’s quarters planning to request that Mordecai be hanged on the gallows. Instead, Haman found himself leading Mordecai on a royal horse throughout the city of Susa shouting, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!”
- when the Jews got the upper hand, the tables were turned and they were delivered from their enemies!
We also became Detectives for the Divine in our own lives. Sometimes His hand was obvious, sometimes not so much, but as we looked we found that He was indeed guiding our lives!
May God’s divine hand be evident in your life today and everyday!