Esther: For Such A Time As This

Thanksgiving is a holiday of feasting and gladness and so was Purim. Purim celebrates the deliverance of God's people from Haman's genocidal death wish. The people joyfully celebrate because they remember the wonder of salvation. True thankfulness comes as we reflect on our deliverance from death through faith in Jesus Christ, who died in our place and rose again.

How do you reverse a death sentence? In this message, we see how Esther approaches the king to request a reversal of Haman's evil decree of death. In God's providence, the King allows Mordecai and Esther to issue a new decree so that God's people can be saved from their enemies. We are reminded from this that the King of heaven has issued a decree of death on all mankind due to our sin and yet Jesus has taken the punishment for sin on the cross.

Sometimes it seems like evil is winning and God's promises are false, yet we are reminded here that God is the King of great reversals and He will prove faithful to His Word and His people in the end. 

Our enemy (Satan) is plotting our demise, but we must remember that our God has purchased our deliverance at the cross. Because God has proven faithful to deliver us from sin, we can stand boldly for him against the threats of world powers.

Sometimes it seems like God is a "Where's Waldo?" cartoon and is hiding somewhere behind the scenes. Yet what we discover in the story of Esther is that when God seems absent from the storyline of our lives and our current context, we must trust that He is the One writing the story and is going to work out every detail for our good and HIs glory.