Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / God’s Surprising Sovereignty │ Msg 812

Transcript

God’s Surprising Sovereignty │ Msg 812 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: In the previous message, we witnessed a subtle but pivotal
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Speaker 1: turn of events. You may remember, the king couldn't sleep
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Speaker 1: that night, so he had his servants read the historical
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Speaker 1: records to him. But instead of curing his insomnia, the
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Speaker 1: reading braced him like a pot of hot coffee. The
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Speaker 1: mention of Mordecai's heroism prompted the king to honor this
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Speaker 1: unsung hero. Ironically, the king had appointed Haman, Mordecai's sworn enemy,
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Speaker 1: to herald Mordecai's praise of all things. When Haman returned
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Speaker 1: home from the humiliating parade, he heard a different tune
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Speaker 1: from his wife and friends than the one he had
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Speaker 1: heard the day before. Instead of a festive dance, the
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Speaker 1: sound of a funeral dirge was pounding in Haman's ears.
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Speaker 1: As we observe this turn of events, we sense something
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Speaker 1: more brewing, the deeper stirring of the sovereignty of God,
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Speaker 1: arranging all events precisely according to his sovereign plan. These
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Speaker 1: events usher us into a second banquet mentioned in chapter 7.
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Speaker 1: In preparation for today's message, I want to read from
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Speaker 1: Esther chapter 7. Verse 1 begins, Now the king and
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Speaker 1: Haman came to drink wine.
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Speaker 2: With Esther the queen. And the king said to.
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Speaker 1: Esther on the second day also as they drank their
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Speaker 1: wine at the banquet, O what is your petition, Queen Esther?
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Speaker 1: It shall be granted you. And what is your request?
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Speaker 1: Even to half the kingdom it shall be done. Then
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Speaker 1: Queen Esther replied, If I have found favor in your sight,
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Speaker 1: O King, and if it please the King, let my
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Speaker 1: life be given me as my petition and my people
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Speaker 1: as my request. For we have been sold, I and
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Speaker 1: my people, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to
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Speaker 1: be annihilated. Now, if we had only been sold as slaves,
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Speaker 1: men and women, I would have remained silent. for the
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Speaker 1: trouble would not be commensurate with the annoyance to the king.
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Speaker 1: Then King Ahasuerus asked Queen Esther, Who is he, and
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Speaker 1: where is he who would presume to do this? Esther said,
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Speaker 1: A foe and an enemy is this wicked Haman. Then
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Speaker 1: Haman became terrified before the king and queen. The king
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Speaker 1: arose in his anger from drinking wine and went into
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Speaker 1: the palace garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his
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Speaker 1: life from Queen Esther, for he saw that harm had
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Speaker 1: been determined against him by the king. Now when the
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Speaker 1: king returned from the palace garden into the place where
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Speaker 1: they were drinking wine, Haman was falling on the couch
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Speaker 1: and where Esther was. Then the king said, Will he
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Speaker 1: even assault the queen with me in the house? As
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Speaker 1: the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered
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Speaker 1: Haman's face. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs who were
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Speaker 1: before the king, said, Behold indeed the gallows standing at
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Speaker 1: Haman's house, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai,
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Speaker 1: who spoke good on behalf.
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Speaker 2: Of the king.
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Speaker 1: And the king said, Hang him on it. So they
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Speaker 1: hanged Haman on the gallows, which had been prepared for Mordecai.
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Speaker 1: And the king's anger subsided.
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Speaker 2: I've never met a person who didn't feel pity for Job.
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Speaker 2: I mean, here was a man godly in heart and
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Speaker 2: righteous in life and lifestyle. who had his entire world
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Speaker 2: crash in on top of him for no apparent reason.
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Speaker 2: And the pain became.
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Speaker 1: Unbearable.
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Speaker 2: And all because of satanic cruelty and God's strange allowing
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Speaker 2: of it to happen, the man became like a tiny
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Speaker 2: wounded mouse in the paws of a big cat. Almost
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Speaker 2: played with. And the hardest part of it all was
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Speaker 2: not the pain, that was bad enough, but it was
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Speaker 2: this mysterious sense of God's silence which played out in
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Speaker 2: Job's life as God's absence. It occurred to me that
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Speaker 2: it must have been like swimming on a vast lake
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Speaker 2: and getting about 100, 150 yards offshore toward dusk. And
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Speaker 2: suddenly a freak fog rolls in over the lake and
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Speaker 2: surrounds you. And you're trapped in this tiny circle of sight.
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Speaker 2: But the fog has diffused light so you can't even
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Speaker 2: tell where the sun is going down and You begin
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Speaker 2: to swim. You think toward the shore, but you're not sure.
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Speaker 2: And then you turn and you panic and swim in
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Speaker 2: another direction and you again have lost your orientation. You
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Speaker 2: don't know where land is. You panic. Your heart rate
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Speaker 2: increases and you decide maybe to float to conserve strength
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Speaker 2: and And it gets dark. And the only way you're
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Speaker 2: going to be safe is by hearing a voice. Faint
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Speaker 2: though it may be, you need a voice. You need
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Speaker 2: to have someone calling from the shore and you could
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Speaker 2: then point yourself in that direction and swim rapidly and
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Speaker 2: find safety and comfort. and relief. Something like that sense
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Speaker 2: of lostness swept over Job as he sat in the
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Speaker 2: rubble of what was once a beautiful landscape. His ruined
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Speaker 2: ranch was before him and his children now fresh graves
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Speaker 2: on a windswept hill. He lost everything. Everything he owned.
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Speaker 2: Virtually everything he was. And now finally his health. And
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Speaker 2: he sits in ashes. And he cannot hear God's voice.
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Speaker 2: It's like a fog. It's like a tiny little space
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Speaker 2: of sight. and not knowing where to say nothing of why.
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Speaker 2: That he writes in his journal, third chapter, words that
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Speaker 2: could easily be criticized by people sitting in a place
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Speaker 2: of comfort, good health, and ease. He opened his mouth
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Speaker 2: and cursed the day of his birth and said, let
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Speaker 2: the day perish in which I was born and the
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Speaker 2: night which said a boy is conceived. Verse 11. Why
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Speaker 2: did I not die at birth, come forth from the
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Speaker 2: womb and expire? Those are words from the lake. Those
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Speaker 2: are words in the fog. Those are words that come
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Speaker 2: from a man who doesn't know why. And God won't speak.
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Speaker 2: And he is alone. And he is worse than dead.
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Speaker 2: He is alive in his misery. Look at the end
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Speaker 2: of that third chapter, verse 24. My groaning comes at
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Speaker 2: the sight of my food and my cries pour out
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Speaker 2: like water. For what I fear comes upon me and
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Speaker 2: what I dread befalls me. I am not at ease,
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Speaker 2: nor am I quiet, for I am not at rest.
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Speaker 2: But turmoil comes. Don't criticize Job until you've been there.
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Speaker 2: It is the worst kind of existence. Bad enough to
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Speaker 2: have everything gone and to have your body covered with
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Speaker 2: sores from your head to your feet, but to hear
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Speaker 2: no voice from God. From that moving account of a
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Speaker 2: man's misery, let me shift gears to a realm that
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Speaker 2: is not nearly so measurable and realistic. Let's move from
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Speaker 2: this real world to a realm some might call philosophical.
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Speaker 2: And for the next few minutes I want you to
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Speaker 2: think with me about time. Time. I would like to
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Speaker 2: contrast our time with God's time. You and I are
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Speaker 2: locked in a cage that causes us an enormous amount
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Speaker 2: of struggle and confusion. We are in a tiny space
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Speaker 2: on this lake of life called the present. Because our
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Speaker 2: entire perspective is gauged from this moment where we find ourselves,
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Speaker 2: we speak of the past and the future. Because our
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Speaker 2: world of time, to begin with, is objectively measured. You
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Speaker 2: want to know the hour or minute of the day?
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Speaker 2: You look at your watch. You want to know the
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Speaker 2: day of the week? You look at your calendar. Easily marked,
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Speaker 2: carefully measured. You want to know the past year? You
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Speaker 2: look into the diary or the journal you've been keeping
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Speaker 2: and you have a record of how things were. Objectively measured. Second,
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Speaker 2: time for us is consciously accountable. Events are seen. They
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Speaker 2: are dated. People are visible. Things are tangible. It is
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Speaker 2: in a realm of sight, smell, touch, hearing, feeling. It
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Speaker 2: is a very real realm, this accountable realm. And if
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Speaker 2: we want to get it straight, we can ask several
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Speaker 2: others who are accurate witnesses and they saw it or
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Speaker 2: they were there and they can account for it. It
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Speaker 2: is in a world of the tangible and the visible. Third,
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Speaker 2: time is rarely ignored or overlooked. Oh, we daydream and
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Speaker 2: we sleep. But aside from those momentary lapses, we may
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Speaker 2: have a little mental lapse in the midst of a
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Speaker 2: busy day where we lose track of time. But not often.
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Speaker 2: Most of us know about every hour of the day
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Speaker 2: pretty close to the exact time because that is our world.
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Speaker 2: And it is very real, measurable and understandable and conscious.
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Speaker 2: God is not like that at all. His workings are
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Speaker 2: not on the basis of that. As a matter of fact,
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Speaker 2: we are in this realm of life on planet Earth
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Speaker 2: that has its own realm of time, and you leave
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Speaker 2: it instantly when you move beyond it. And he lives
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Speaker 2: beyond it. I thought of this when I read this account.
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Speaker 2: On the night of February 23, 1987, an astronomer in
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Speaker 2: Chile observed with his naked eye the explosion of a
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Speaker 2: distant supernova, a blast so powerful that it released as
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Speaker 2: much energy in one second as our sun will release
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Speaker 2: in 10 billion years. Did that event truly occur on
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Speaker 2: February 23, 1987? Well, only from the perspective of our planet.
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Speaker 2: Further investigation revealed actually the supernova exploded 170,000 years prior
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Speaker 2: to our 1987. But the light generated by that faraway
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Speaker 2: event traveling almost six trillion miles a year took 170,000
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Speaker 2: years to reach our galaxy. And we noticed an explosion.
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Speaker 2: God is in that realm. There is no night where
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Speaker 2: he lives. Maybe you heard the comic story of foolish
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Speaker 2: scientist who made plans to send a rocket to the
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Speaker 2: sun Someone said, you're going to burn up. No, they answered,
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Speaker 2: we're going at night. God has no night. God has
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Speaker 2: no day. God has no month. God has no year.
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Speaker 2: God has no past, present, or future. He transcends it all.
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Speaker 2: And he operates in a realm that is transcendent. We
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Speaker 2: see history like a sequence of Of still frames. Moving
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Speaker 2: from one to another. Like the passing of a movie.
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Speaker 2: God sees all the movie. All at once. In a flash.
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Speaker 2: Along with billions and trillions of others. Going on at
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Speaker 2: the very same time. He is beyond it all. Which
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Speaker 2: makes our little bit of space on the lake. Seem
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Speaker 2: terribly much like a cage. Called time. Isn't it easy
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Speaker 2: to sing it? In his time, in his time, God
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Speaker 2: makes all things beautiful in his time. It's a quarter
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Speaker 2: to twelve, Lord. Lord, please show me every day. He
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Speaker 2: has no day. That you're teaching me your way. He
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Speaker 2: has a way. And you do just what you say in.
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Speaker 2: Now we're talking. Your time. Now, immediately we have a problem.
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Speaker 2: Our problem is that we read life wrongly. It must
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Speaker 2: be read in the panorama of God's mind and through
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Speaker 2: God's perspective, but we are finite creatures. So we are
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Speaker 2: left in a fog. in disappointment with God, we read
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Speaker 2: these words. No matter how we rationalize, God will sometimes
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Speaker 2: seem unfair from the perspective of a person trapped in time.
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Speaker 2: Only at the end of time, after we have attained
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Speaker 2: God's level of viewing, after every evil has been punished
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Speaker 2: or forgiven, every illness healed, and the entire universe restored,
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Speaker 2: only then will fairness reign. Then we will understand what
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Speaker 2: role is played by evil and by the fall and
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Speaker 2: by natural law in an unfair event like the death
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Speaker 2: of a child. Until then, we will not know and
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Speaker 2: can only trust in a God who does know. He continues,
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Speaker 2: we remain ignorant of many details, not because God enjoys
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Speaker 2: keeping us in the dark, but because we have not
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Speaker 2: the faculties to absorb so much light. At a single glance,
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Speaker 2: God knows what the world is about and how history
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Speaker 2: will end, but we time-bound creatures have only the most
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Speaker 2: primitive manner of understanding. We can let time pass. Not
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Speaker 2: until history has run its course will we understand how
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Speaker 2: all things work together for good. Faith, then, means believing
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Speaker 2: in advance what will only make sense in reverse. And
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Speaker 2: that's hard. That is hard. It's as hard as moving
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Speaker 2: from the chorus in his time, in his time. God
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Speaker 2: makes all things beautiful in his time on Sunday. To
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Speaker 2: the real world of pain and loss and hardship and
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Speaker 2: earthquakes and floods and death on Tuesday or Wednesday or Friday.
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Speaker 2: So what do we do? How do we live in
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Speaker 2: a fog without panic? How do we make it in
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Speaker 2: this little space? Not knowing where the shore is, and
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Speaker 2: especially during the times when we do not hear a voice. Well,
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Speaker 2: we need help in discovering how God works. The book
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Speaker 2: just before Job is the book of Esther. And it's
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Speaker 2: quite a book. It's the only book in the Bible
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Speaker 2: where God isn't named. But you haven't had to worry
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Speaker 2: about that because I've named him all the way through
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Speaker 2: these messages. And I brought to your attention the ending
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Speaker 2: of the book. You see, they didn't know about it
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Speaker 2: in the third chapter or fourth chapter. I've read the
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Speaker 2: book and you have too. And so we're able to
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Speaker 2: read in reverse and give them peace and comfort and
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Speaker 2: tell Mordecai to wait and rest. and to tell Esther
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Speaker 2: she'll move when it's God's moment because we're able to
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Speaker 2: read it into it because we have the book and
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Speaker 2: the book is written from the perspective of no planet specifically,
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Speaker 2: but God's transcendent presence generally. So when we come to
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Speaker 2: chapter three and we find that there's a sustained period
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Speaker 2: of silence, where the king promotes Haman, you and I
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Speaker 2: want to say, no, don't do it. You'll be sorry.
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Speaker 2: He's a bad guy. He hates the Jews. He's going
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Speaker 2: to work out a murderous plan. Don't promote him. But
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Speaker 2: he promotes him. And there's no voice from the shore.
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Speaker 2: Verse 6 of chapter 3, he seeks to destroy all
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Speaker 2: the Jews who are in the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus.
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Speaker 2: And the king of all things plants his ring in
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Speaker 2: the clay and And he sends the message by edict
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Speaker 2: across the kingdom of Persia. And the Jews now live
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Speaker 2: in the fear that they will die by the end
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Speaker 2: of the year. And God's silent. He doesn't say a word.
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Speaker 2: He doesn't speak. He doesn't even stop them. Must have
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Speaker 2: been like living in Paris when the Nazis came. How
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Speaker 2: could they come? How could they take us? We are Frenchmen.
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Speaker 2: But they came and they killed. And God was silent.
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Speaker 2: Mordecai tries to motivate Esther and she's hesitant and we
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Speaker 2: want to say, Esther, get at it. You're the queen.
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Speaker 2: You can make a difference. I know. I read where
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Speaker 2: you did a little later. Do it. And she doesn't
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Speaker 2: do it. Not right away. And God is silent. She
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Speaker 2: asks that they might fast and pray for her. And
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Speaker 2: they do. And she decides to do something. And in
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Speaker 2: the meantime, Haman, aggravated at Mordecai, builds gallows that are
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Speaker 2: going to hold the carcass of Mordecai until he rots.
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Speaker 2: And nobody stops him. Let me tell you something. Had
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Speaker 2: we lived then in that little place of the lake,
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Speaker 2: we'd have wondered where is God. Just like Elie Wiesel
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Speaker 2: in his book, Night, stands as a child, viewing all
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Speaker 2: the sights of death and smelling it from the ovens.
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Speaker 2: And the man behind him says, where is God now?
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Speaker 2: Of course. You know, such periods of silence are woven
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Speaker 2: all the way through the text. And if you don't
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Speaker 2: know this, and if you don't remember this, and if
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Speaker 2: you don't call this to mind when he stays silent
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Speaker 2: while you were on the lake, you will panic, you
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Speaker 2: will doubt, you will become cynical. Your faith will remain
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Speaker 2: like a little tiny speck mustard seed. I've heard great
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Speaker 2: sermons on Joseph. I've listened to great sermons on Moses.
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Speaker 2: I have never heard a sermon on the 400 years
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Speaker 2: that separated Joseph from Moses. And what if you and
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Speaker 2: I had lived then? I'd much rather live in the
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Speaker 2: days of Joseph or prefer to live in the days
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Speaker 2: of Moses, especially when the redemption happens. But what about
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Speaker 2: the silent period where God doesn't move? We move along
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Speaker 2: in history and we come to Hannah. We love Hannah,
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Speaker 2: this woman of God who prayed for a son and
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Speaker 2: the wonder boy came. His name is Samuel. Great messages
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Speaker 2: on Hannah. Great messages on Samuel. I don't think I've
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Speaker 2: ever heard a message on 1 Samuel 3, 1, which says,
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Speaker 2: Word from the Lord was rare in those days. Visions
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Speaker 2: were infrequent. The Good News Bible says there were very
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Speaker 2: few messages from the Lord and visions from him were
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Speaker 2: quite rare. But I venture to say that's exactly where
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Speaker 2: most of us are spending our lives right this hot moment.
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Speaker 2: God is silent. You're in a waiting period. We think
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Speaker 2: the prophets were the ones who heard God's voice on
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Speaker 2: a regular basis. If you think that you haven't read Habakkuk.
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Speaker 2: who watched unjust events occur one after another, one after another,
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Speaker 2: and they didn't stop. Finally, he said to God, why?
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Speaker 2: And while I'm at it, how long? This is a prophet.
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Speaker 2: What was the problem? He was on the lake. The
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Speaker 2: fog had rolled in. You can sing in his time
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Speaker 2: where God makes all things beautiful, but right now I'm drowning.
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Speaker 2: Between Malachi and the birth of the Lord Jesus is
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Speaker 2: another 400 year period. You have probably never heard a
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Speaker 2: sermon about absolute stark silence, not even the writing of
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Speaker 2: a verse of scripture for centuries. If you want to
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Speaker 2: discover how God works, not only in Esther's day, but
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Speaker 2: in your day, keep these four things in mind. Number one.
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Speaker 2: There are often sustained periods of silence. OK, often. Unless
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Speaker 2: I missed my guess, that's where you find yourself. And
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Speaker 2: I want to give you a tip on how to
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Speaker 2: handle those absolute those times of absolute silence. Here it is.
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Speaker 2: The periods of God's silence are just as significant as
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Speaker 2: the times in which he speaks. They're far more painful.
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Speaker 2: And they are far more often. You need ears of faith.
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Speaker 2: To listen for his voice. When you're on a lake.
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Speaker 2: Had a man share with me a few minutes ago.
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Speaker 2: We are waiting right now. He's a medical doctor waiting
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Speaker 2: right now to know if God wants us on a
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Speaker 2: particular mission field. And he spoke of it. Spoke very softly.
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Speaker 2: But I could tell in the passion of his voice,
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Speaker 2: he wants to be there. But it's right now a
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Speaker 2: time of silence. He doesn't know if he should be,
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Speaker 2: and he doesn't know exactly when, if indeed he should go.
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Speaker 2: He is in that all-encompassing waiting period, and it's tough.
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Speaker 2: Because he, like you and like I, works from the
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Speaker 2: basis of a watch and a calendar and a journal.
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Speaker 2: But remember, God isn't in the business of repeating history.
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Speaker 2: He's writing a new record regularly. So looking back will
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Speaker 2: not always help you as you look at where you are.
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Speaker 2: But remember, there are times of silence. And then let
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Speaker 2: me mention, secondly, there will be a subtle turn of
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Speaker 2: events that will begin to happen. Sensitive ears, sharp antennae
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Speaker 2: will detect those changes. They're subtle, remember. For example, you're
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Speaker 2: looking at Esther chapter 6. The king can't sleep. Now
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Speaker 2: I want to ask you, when was the last time
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Speaker 2: that made news? The president couldn't sleep last night. I
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Speaker 2: don't think I've read that. The king can't sleep. Or
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Speaker 2: if I did, it was a little part of the paper.
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Speaker 2: But it's subtle. It's nevertheless a change. I suppose the
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Speaker 2: king slept well all the time. That's why it made
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Speaker 2: news in chapter 6 that he didn't in this occasion.
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Speaker 2: And out of the blue, Mordecai's name comes out of obscurity.
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Speaker 2: He's reading the record, listening to the notes from the Chronicles,
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Speaker 2: and he hears Mordecai's name and he hears that this
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Speaker 2: man saved his life. By the way, this is between
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Speaker 2: the two banquets, isn't it? Isn't it significant that God,
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Speaker 2: in his timing, wanted to introduce the king to Mordecai
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Speaker 2: and it took two banquets? I laughed at two banquets.
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Speaker 2: I'm now ashamed that I laughed at two banquets. It
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Speaker 2: was part of his plan. I think, why two banquets?
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Speaker 2: One will do. Well, I'm not God. He could have
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Speaker 2: called for four. Or none. He's not into banquets. The
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Speaker 2: point of it all is that in the mystery of
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Speaker 2: these changing of events, subtle things occur that the sensitive
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Speaker 2: heart picks up. And my friend, that's what wisdom is about.
28:20
Speaker 2: That's Christian maturity. And rather than thrashing about on the lake, thinking,
28:26
Speaker 2: I will not make it. I will never hear a voice.
28:30
Speaker 2: We begin to watch for turns of events. I mean,
28:36
Speaker 2: right after he gets out of this sleepless night, who's
28:39
Speaker 2: in the courtyard or in the court of the king?
28:41
Speaker 2: But Haman, Haman, he has splinters in his hands from
28:45
Speaker 2: building the gallows on which to hang Mordecai. And the
28:49
Speaker 2: king called him. We laughed at that last time, remember?
28:52
Speaker 2: The king calls him in, says, who should we honor?
28:54
Speaker 2: Haman thinks, Who's better than me? I'm glad you think that,
28:59
Speaker 2: but that's not my plan. I'm going to honor Mordecai.
29:02
Speaker 2: And sure enough, Haman is the man who takes Mordecai
29:05
Speaker 2: out for a walk on a horse proclaiming his greatness.
29:11
Speaker 2: I'd call that a change of events. Now, my point
29:16
Speaker 2: is this. It is easy to live like a dullard today.
29:21
Speaker 2: It is easy to anticipate that this year will be
29:24
Speaker 2: very much like last and the one before, when in
29:26
Speaker 2: fact it may be altogether different. Here's the tip I
29:31
Speaker 2: want to leave with you. When events begin to turn,
29:35
Speaker 2: realize none of it is merely coincidental. Remember that. Take
29:42
Speaker 2: the word coincidental out of your vocabulary. Along with luck,
29:50
Speaker 2: you can throw them both out. You don't need them anymore.
29:55
Speaker 2: Nothing is coincidental. Isn't it coincidental? How when you talk
30:02
Speaker 2: to Bobby this afternoon, he sounded different than he sounded
30:04
Speaker 2: three days ago. Be sensitive. Isn't it interesting that when
30:11
Speaker 2: the boss came in today, he spoke in a different
30:15
Speaker 2: way of my work than he did several days ago.
30:19
Speaker 2: In his time, in his time, he begins to move
30:25
Speaker 2: in subtle change methods. Chapter six. When you get to
30:33
Speaker 2: chapter 7, there is a sudden change in plans. The
30:40
Speaker 2: second banquet is attended by Haman and the king and
30:43
Speaker 2: the queen. The conversation between the queen and the king
30:51
Speaker 2: breaks the silence as the king asks her, verse 2,
30:54
Speaker 2: what is your petition? You know, he's asked that two
30:58
Speaker 2: other times besides this one. Chapter 5, verse 3, what
31:01
Speaker 2: is your request? Chapter 5, verse 6, and what is
31:04
Speaker 2: your request? She never answered. Chapter 7, verse 2, she answers.
31:10
Speaker 2: Sharp lady. It wasn't right. It wasn't the time. And
31:16
Speaker 2: she sensed it. Would it interrupt our thoughts too much
31:22
Speaker 2: for me to ask this question of you? Are you
31:26
Speaker 2: a sensitive Christian? Just because you have a lot of information,
31:34
Speaker 2: do you feel the need to say it all? Or
31:37
Speaker 2: do you pace it? Do you time it? Do you
31:43
Speaker 2: wait till the right moment? What is your petition, Queen Esther?
31:49
Speaker 2: It shall be granted to you up to half the kingdom.
31:54
Speaker 2: I love it that Esther, though like all of us,
31:57
Speaker 2: is trapped in that little cage of light, that little
31:59
Speaker 2: space of sight. She hasn't told all that's on her heart.
32:06
Speaker 2: She hasn't even told him until this moment that she's Jewish.
32:11
Speaker 2: But now she tells him. Listen to her answer. If
32:16
Speaker 2: I found favor in your sight, O king, and if
32:17
Speaker 2: it pleased the king, let my life be given me
32:19
Speaker 2: as my petition and my people as my request. That's
32:23
Speaker 2: my petition. For we have been sold. I and my
32:29
Speaker 2: people to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated.
32:34
Speaker 2: That's exactly what Haman had planned. I read it earlier
32:37
Speaker 2: in the series. Now, if we had only been sold
32:42
Speaker 2: as slaves, men and women, I wouldn't take your time.
32:46
Speaker 2: You have many things too important to worry about. But
32:51
Speaker 2: he wants to kill us. Look at the king's response.
32:53
Speaker 2: Talk about a sudden change. I mean, look, the king
32:59
Speaker 2: asked Queen Esther, who is he and where is he
33:02
Speaker 2: who would presume to do this? You know what I
33:04
Speaker 2: want to say? Where in the world were you, friend,
33:09
Speaker 2: when you signed the document just a few days ago?
33:12
Speaker 2: Remember this. Remember. We live in a world of preoccupied people.
33:20
Speaker 2: They too live in a fog. Who knows how many
33:24
Speaker 2: edicts he signed that day? Who knows how much was
33:28
Speaker 2: on his mind? After all, kings have a lot to
33:31
Speaker 2: think about. Like What's for lunch? How much is in
33:39
Speaker 2: the treasury? No, you know I'm being facetious. The king
33:44
Speaker 2: has decisions to make. And the way Haman handled it,
33:49
Speaker 2: I'm sure it was veiled in all the legalese he
33:53
Speaker 2: could put together, and the king signs it thinking the
33:56
Speaker 2: man knows what he's doing. Suddenly, things have changed. Don't
34:03
Speaker 2: you ever tell me for the rest of our relationship
34:07
Speaker 2: together that something is absolutely permanent or I'll remind you
34:13
Speaker 2: of the breaking down of the Berlin Wall. Not one
34:18
Speaker 2: of us would have thought that thing would come down.
34:23
Speaker 2: God can move in the heart of a king. He
34:26
Speaker 2: can change the mind of your mate. He can move
34:29
Speaker 2: in affairs of your neighborhood. He can alter decisions of
34:33
Speaker 2: presidents alike. It means nothing to him because none of
34:37
Speaker 2: his world is limited by space, time, visible, tangible. He
34:42
Speaker 2: lives in the realm that transcends all that. He is
34:45
Speaker 2: all powerful and he's ready to move. And it's in
34:49
Speaker 2: his time. He does make it beautiful. Beautiful. So she
34:57
Speaker 2: answers with the same kind of courage. Verse 6, who
35:00
Speaker 2: is responsible? A foe and an enemy is this wicked Haman. Now,
35:06
Speaker 2: Haman hasn't had the best of days for the last
35:08
Speaker 2: 24 to 48 hours. Probably thinks about now, this was
35:13
Speaker 2: not a good day to get up. Became terrified before
35:18
Speaker 2: the king and the queen. Naturally. I mean, we all
35:21
Speaker 2: are saying, You know why? Because we want justice. We
35:28
Speaker 2: want evil to pay for it. We want good rewarded.
35:33
Speaker 2: It's built in our system. And Haman ought not be
35:39
Speaker 2: running loose, calling the shots. They ought to finish him off.
35:43
Speaker 2: And now the king says, that's the plan. Harbona, verse 9,
35:50
Speaker 2: one of the eunuchs says, It says there are gallows
35:53
Speaker 2: standing at Haman's house, 50 cubits high. You talk about
35:56
Speaker 2: a surprising climax? All the time he was building them,
36:02
Speaker 2: he was just picturing in his mind Mordecai hanging on them. Finally,
36:10
Speaker 2: that day is going to come. Haman made that for Mordecai,
36:17
Speaker 2: who spoke good on behalf of the king. And the
36:22
Speaker 2: king said, hang him on it. I love it. Not
36:31
Speaker 2: because I like seeing guys hanging on gallows, but this
36:37
Speaker 2: is in his time. This is his way. This is
36:41
Speaker 2: how God works. And I'll tell you, when you haven't
36:43
Speaker 2: manipulated it, you just watch it with great delight alongside
36:48
Speaker 2: others who are as surprised as you. Let me tell
36:54
Speaker 2: you something. Humans call this kind of thing irony. God
37:00
Speaker 2: calls it sovereignty. God calls it sovereignty. So they hanged
37:10
Speaker 2: Haman on the gallows, which he had prepared for Mordecai,
37:15
Speaker 2: and the king's anger subsided. You know what else? So
37:22
Speaker 2: does ours. Now, the question remains, since we are trapped
37:32
Speaker 2: in the cage, this little space, how can I be
37:37
Speaker 2: sensitive to God's interventions? What are some things that will
37:44
Speaker 2: help me, because I don't have a book that I
37:47
Speaker 2: can go to that has the answers in the back.
37:51
Speaker 2: I can't unravel the knots. I can't Get the tapestry
37:56
Speaker 2: turned over to read why, which would help me, I think.
38:02
Speaker 2: So I want to help here. I don't want to
38:05
Speaker 2: be glib. I don't want to be uncaring because I
38:09
Speaker 2: realize some of you, like Job, struggle with God's silence,
38:16
Speaker 2: which you're convinced perhaps by now is his absence. Please,
38:23
Speaker 2: he is not absent. He may be silent, but he's
38:27
Speaker 2: not absent. So let me share with you how life
38:34
Speaker 2: can be handled on the lake, okay, in the fog.
38:38
Speaker 2: Number one, I have three thoughts. The fog on your
38:43
Speaker 2: lake is neither accidental nor fatal. The fog on your
38:50
Speaker 2: lake is neither accidental nor fatal. So while swimming, listen
38:56
Speaker 2: for his voice. Some days you panic and dog paddle
39:02
Speaker 2: like mad. You'll try various approaches. Breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke, floating.
39:16
Speaker 2: All the time, you want to be sure you're listening
39:19
Speaker 2: for his voice. Now let's be careful here. It will
39:22
Speaker 2: come in various ways. I get nervous about people who
39:28
Speaker 2: tell me they hear God's voice. I think, that's fine.
39:35
Speaker 2: I often want to know if they're seeing a good therapist.
39:40
Speaker 2: I get nervous about people that every parking space is
39:43
Speaker 2: from God. I call them bumper sticker Christians. And They're
39:49
Speaker 2: scary people. They're spooky. I'm not talking about that. God
39:56
Speaker 2: gave you a mind. God gave you reason. God gave
40:00
Speaker 2: you a sensitivity that's built into your system. Each one
40:04
Speaker 2: of us different from each other, from the other. And
40:07
Speaker 2: so God wishes to reveal his will to you and
40:11
Speaker 2: to teach you while waiting. So while waiting, don't look
40:15
Speaker 2: for spooky stuff. Get into his word. Get on your knees.
40:24
Speaker 2: Counsel with the few that have reasonable counsel, solidly biblical
40:30
Speaker 2: in their philosophy. And wait. Wait. While swimming, listen for
40:41
Speaker 2: his voice. Don't try to read the stars. Stay away
40:47
Speaker 2: from people that tell you they can. The answers are
40:51
Speaker 2: not on your palms. Stay away from people that read that.
40:56
Speaker 2: Nor in the newspaper. I've never found God's will in
41:00
Speaker 2: the newspaper. Sometimes I've questioned God's will while reading the newspaper. However,
41:10
Speaker 2: there are tangible things to connect with passages of scripture
41:14
Speaker 2: that that bring comfort, that bring insight, certain messages that
41:19
Speaker 2: you can hear, certain people you respect. Tap into those
41:26
Speaker 2: and wait. Listen with a sensitive ear. Second, the workings
41:32
Speaker 2: of our God are related to our crises and unrelated
41:37
Speaker 2: to our clocks. The workings of our God are related
41:43
Speaker 2: to our crises, but unrelated to our clocks. That's why
41:48
Speaker 2: God doesn't care if this is the last day you
41:51
Speaker 2: can buy that car on sale. It doesn't bother God
41:57
Speaker 2: that it is a quarter after 12 or 10 minutes
42:02
Speaker 2: to 1 in the morning. So while waiting, look beyond
42:09
Speaker 2: the present. You know the best way to do that? Pray.
42:18
Speaker 2: Make your life a life of prayer. Tell him, in
42:26
Speaker 2: anguish if necessary, tell him the horror of the waiting.
42:32
Speaker 2: Express your panic. Tell him you're trapped right here. You
42:36
Speaker 2: don't know how you can stay afloat much longer. You
42:39
Speaker 2: can't hear his voice. But you need to see beyond
42:43
Speaker 2: the pain of the present. When I pray, that happens
42:48
Speaker 2: to me. It helps me when I handle some pieces
42:50
Speaker 2: of mail. It helps me when I can't quite grasp
42:55
Speaker 2: a meaning of something I'm struggling with. When I'm dealing
42:57
Speaker 2: with big decisions. When I'm working with difficult people. When
43:03
Speaker 2: something in my own life is sort of twisted and struggling,
43:07
Speaker 2: I find prayer gives me a calming perspective. You find
43:11
Speaker 2: that too, don't you? Let's stay at that. Now the
43:18
Speaker 2: third is this. The surprises in store are not merely
43:25
Speaker 2: ironic or coincidental. They are sovereignly designed. While anticipating Trust
43:40
Speaker 2: him for justice. You know what? You may not live
43:46
Speaker 2: to see the justice, but it will come. Or he
43:49
Speaker 2: is not just. And you know he is. I have
43:57
Speaker 2: found while in the fog that my great temptation is
44:01
Speaker 2: either to doubt or to deny. Maybe they're the same.
44:11
Speaker 2: To doubt or to deny that he is even at work.
44:16
Speaker 2: And you know what I'm brought back to more often
44:18
Speaker 2: than anything else. When I think of something that looks
44:20
Speaker 2: like it's the absolute end. But it is really. I
44:25
Speaker 2: look back later and say it's the beginning. You know
44:28
Speaker 2: what I think of? The cross. The Roman officials applauded.
44:37
Speaker 2: The Jewish officials clicked their heels. They must have drunk
44:42
Speaker 2: half into the night. Finally, we got rid of him.
44:47
Speaker 2: That is over. How would you like it if I
44:51
Speaker 2: said to you today, but coincidentally, he was raised from
44:56
Speaker 2: the dead. What an incredible coincidence. You won't let me
45:02
Speaker 2: say that. That's heresy. And I won't let you say
45:09
Speaker 2: when God comes through with a change in his plans
45:14
Speaker 2: where you said it is finished. I won't let you
45:20
Speaker 2: say as it turns towards something great that that was coincidental.
45:26
Speaker 2: What looked like the ending was in fact the beginning.
45:34
Speaker 2: Listen to me today. There are some of you who
45:40
Speaker 2: know the words to the tune we have sung so often.
45:44
Speaker 2: In his time, in his time, God makes all things
45:49
Speaker 2: beautiful in his time, and you don't even know God.
45:54
Speaker 2: You don't. You know words about him. You even carry
46:01
Speaker 2: a book that he wrote. You maybe even bow in
46:08
Speaker 2: prayer when Christians pray. You're probably at your favorite local
46:17
Speaker 2: church more than some Christians, and you're proud of that.
46:23
Speaker 2: But you were lost. You see, there's another part of
46:32
Speaker 2: that verse that says, or that song that says, my
46:35
Speaker 2: life to you I bring. May each song I have
46:39
Speaker 2: to sing be to you a lovely thing in your time.
46:46
Speaker 2: That's a person who has been to and even beyond
46:50
Speaker 2: the cross. Let me tell you the smartest thing you
46:56
Speaker 2: can do. Come absolutely as you are. To the place
47:06
Speaker 2: that will make a difference. And that's the foot of
47:08
Speaker 2: the cross. Look up. The most unjust event is before
47:19
Speaker 2: you hanging on a cross. The only perfect one who
47:24
Speaker 2: ever lived. Dead. Bloodstains on his head, his arms, on
47:34
Speaker 2: his feet, on his back. And he screamed, my God,
47:44
Speaker 2: why have you forsaken me? Because in that little tiny
47:48
Speaker 2: space on earth in the present. God was silent. But
47:57
Speaker 2: he wasn't absent. He turned his back. Sin was born.
48:08
Speaker 2: And God said amen when he raised him from the grave.
48:13
Speaker 2: It is all in motion. Smartest thing you could do
48:21
Speaker 2: is to come to Jesus Christ just exactly as you are.
48:26
Speaker 2: Tell him you're a sinner. You have nothing to hide.
48:33
Speaker 2: Believe me. It won't surprise him. He'll take you just
48:38
Speaker 2: like you are. Your hypocrisy. Your filthy thoughts. Your impure motives.
48:45
Speaker 2: Your pride. Your impatience. Your religious morality. He'll take it all.
48:57
Speaker 2: And he'll forgive you. And take you home to be
49:02
Speaker 2: with him. Because of his amazing grace. He'll take a
49:08
Speaker 2: wretch like you. I know that because he took one
49:10
Speaker 2: like me. It's smart to do that. Do that now.
49:23
Speaker 2: don't put this off how stupid to leave unprepared to
49:29
Speaker 2: die take time out to give your life to Christ
49:36
Speaker 2: let's bow together I will not beg you, but I
49:45
Speaker 2: will invite you. Since the Lord Jesus Christ has taken
49:52
Speaker 2: the penalty that you and I deserve, which was death
49:55
Speaker 2: for sin. Since he's paid the price and has been
50:02
Speaker 2: raised from the grave and lives victorious over it all
50:07
Speaker 2: in a realm that transcends time and space and events
50:11
Speaker 2: and people. then he is well able to woo you
50:17
Speaker 2: into his own family. And I'll trust his spirit to
50:20
Speaker 2: do that. Come today.
50:31
Speaker 1: Thank you, dear Heavenly Father, for your hand on all
50:35
Speaker 1: our lives. How grateful we are that even though we
50:40
Speaker 1: may not hear your voice in an audible way, or
50:44
Speaker 1: see your shadow cast across the wall in the room
50:48
Speaker 1: where we're sitting, we know that you are there. For
50:53
Speaker 1: you are everywhere. And best of all, you are not
50:58
Speaker 1: only there, you are in charge. You're in full control
51:04
Speaker 1: of the events that are transpiring and those events yet
51:08
Speaker 1: future that will transpire. Some have experienced a turnaround set
51:13
Speaker 1: of events that have changed their lives in many ways,
51:18
Speaker 1: for some of these events have been very difficult for
51:21
Speaker 1: them to endure.
51:23
Speaker 2: For others, they've.
51:24
Speaker 1: Turned toward the better, and these who have enjoyed the
51:27
Speaker 1: change have given their praise and thanks to you, because
51:31
Speaker 1: you have been.
51:31
Speaker 2: The author of them.
51:34
Speaker 1: But whatever the event, Lord, thank you for watching over
51:37
Speaker 1: us so carefully. for taking such good care of the
51:42
Speaker 1: details of our lives, for not being aloof and distant
51:49
Speaker 1: and out of touch, but for being near and touched
51:52
Speaker 1: with our struggles, as well as rejoicing with us in
51:56
Speaker 1: our joys. Thank you for this story we have heard today,
52:01
Speaker 1: not just a story, not a tale, but a true
52:06
Speaker 1: record of your hand in the life of your people,
52:10
Speaker 1: who are totally dependent on you for deliverance. And now, Father,
52:15
Speaker 1: I pray for those who have never come to you
52:18
Speaker 1: through your Son, Jesus Christ. They've never known spiritual deliverance
52:25
Speaker 1: from the slavery of the sin that they cannot stop.
52:30
Speaker 1: I pray that you would bring them to this crossroad
52:34
Speaker 1: as they come to the foot of the cross and
52:37
Speaker 1: acknowledge your Son as as their Lord and Savior, and
52:42
Speaker 1: that you will make this for them the sovereign turning
52:46
Speaker 1: point of their lives as they move out of darkness
52:51
Speaker 1: into your brilliant light, from death to life itself. I
52:59
Speaker 1: ask this in the name of our sovereign King and Savior,
53:03
Speaker 1: Jesus the Lord.
53:06
Speaker 2: Amen.
53:09
Speaker 3: The preceding message, God's Surprising Sovereignty, was copyrighted in 1989, 1990, 1997, 2005, 2018,
53:13
Speaker 3: and 2026, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2026
53:16
Speaker 3: by Charles R.
53:16
Speaker 2: Swindoll, Inc.
53:17
Speaker 3: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
53:21
Speaker 3: commercial use is strictly prohibited.