4/12/17
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
Dear Congregation,
I will admit that when I come to the
Book of Esther in my regular Bible reading, I am always tempted to skim through
it really fast or perhaps even skip portions of it. Not because it is boring or
because it is irrelevant, but because it is a story that I remember well. Being
an account in history and not one that ever mentions the name of God, I
foolishly deceive myself into disinterest.
However, this week I took my time
with it and absorbed it in a way I have not done for some years. I was struck
once again with the truth of God’s sovereignty over all events and actions for
His own glory. God is never mentioned as I have already stated, but everything
happens at just the right time. Vashti refuses the king at just the right time.
Mordecai aids the king at just the right time. Mordecai’s reward is overlooked
by the king until just the right time. The king cannot sleep at just the right
time. Haman is discovered at just the right time. Esther acts at just the right
time. There is no coincidence here. This account does not have to mention God
for him to be seen. Secular history does not have to mention God for his hand
to be seen and His actions noted. The non believer even recognizes the eerie
way that events very often come together for good or evil. In suppression of
the truth, a non believer may make up something like karma, or luck, or the
stars, or the universe. But Esther shows that all through History God’s
covenant is unbreakable and His plan for all history will not be thwarted by
mere humanity. If Esther did not fulfill God’s will, deliverance would come
from someplace else. God wins.
As we head into Resurrection Sunday,
lets remember all the events that led up to that point. It started in the
Garden of Eden and was foretold through millennia until the Lord Jesus was born
at just the right time and died and rose again at just the right time. You have
been saved at just the right time, live in just the right time in history for
God to use you best. May we continue to live with assurance that God will move
history to bring all His future promises to fulfillment. Christ in you for such
a time as this and your salvation for such a time as this.
In Christ,
Pastor Basile
