Esther is such a fascinating book. Up to this point in scripture, God has communicated with people, shown up in divine action, sent prophets who speak with His voice, and much more. God is absent from the book of Esther in all of these ways. Over the last few months, I’ve tried to point to literary structures and devices to help bring life to the text. We miss a lot because we are so far removed from the context, language, and culture. I hope those things have been of benefit to you. Today, I want to wrestle with a theological question that comes out of Esther and post a video for you to watch to find more out about the book itself. The question I want to pose to us this week is this, “What do you do when you do not hear God’s voice?”
Working with young people for nearly a decade, and especially the college students I worked with, the question they wrestled with the most in their spiritual walk was, “I want to make sure I’m doing what God has planned for my life.” I’ve seen a lot of Christians over the years frozen by indecision because they are waiting on God to give them some kind of sign. There is a certain level of fear that they will make a major life decision that isn’t what God planned for them. These decisions often have to do with marriage, job, where to move, etc. “What is God’s will for my life?” plagues many of us. So, what is the “will of God” for your life? Ephesians 1:8b-10 gives us some insight, “With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.”
What is God’s will for your life? Do everything you can to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. There it is! Do it! Ok…what does that mean? If you see someone or a group of people who have been marginalized by society, what can you do to bring them to unity with everyone else? Bringing all things to unity under Christ does not always have to be done in big ways. Decisions you make every moment of every day can make major changes in the world around you to bring everything under Christ. You might be called to go to the mission field but what would it look like to live out faithfulness to God’s will right here and right now?
Esther was forced into a beauty contest. She won. She became queen. We have no evidence of God intervening in any of this but it seems obvious that God is working through it all. Esther was a super model turned queen. She didn’t leave her high position to find people to serve but was faithful to God where she was. God never gave her direction but she took care of God’s people by being virtuous in her position. Mordecai could have manipulated her into action telling her that God has obviously put her in that position or that it is her destiny. Instead, he says that deliverance will come from somewhere if she does nothing but asks the simple question, “Could this be why you’re in this royal position?” Her choice was to stare the potential of death in the face and then do what was right.
Looking back at this story, you can see where God works through different situations. Where in your life can you look back and see where God has worked while you never heard His voice in the process? Are there areas in your life right now where you’re keeping God from working to bring unity? I’m continually praying that God will open our eyes to see where He is working in the world so that we will meet Him there.