Reading… and Thinking

Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

– Esther 4:13-14 (ESV)

Mordecai’s assurance of Providence was firm. He couldn’t be sure, though he strongly suspected, that Esther’s elevation was for the very purpose of saving her people. But he was utterly convinced that, whether through Esther or another means, God would save His people.

What gave him such confidence? The promises of God! There were eternal promises made by God to Abraham and to his seed – both singular and plural. If the Jews were wiped out, those promises couldn’t be kept. Therefore, the Jews could not be wiped out.

How God might act in the lives of these particular individuals was less certain. There was no iron-clad guarantee that God would bless Esther’s attempt to save her people. But it sure seemed like an arrangement too good to be coincidence.

It has been noted that Esther is the only book of the Bible that doesn’t mention God. That’s true, in a literal sense. But the power of God’s Providence is visible from beginning to end. It may be easier for us to identify with Esther and Mordecai than with many others we meet in Scripture, simply because they had to figure out what to do, without any kind of miraculous signs or inspired guidance. All they had to go on was the written word, and their own confidence in God. Just like us.

As we consider the action of Providence in our own lives, we get some significant instruction from the story of Esther and Mordecai. By its nature, Providence is subtle, not dramatic. That means we have to do some figuring.

How does Providence act in our lives? Well, we have some equivalents to the promises that Mordecai was so confident of. “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) “For those who love God, all things work together for good.” (Romans 8:28) “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.” (1 Corinthians 10:13) These are things we can be absolutely sure of.

Beyond that, there are circumstances that just seem too much to be coincidence. What did Mordecai think when Esther became queen? Did he think then that it was Providential, or did he just think it was a great opportunity for a fine girl? We don’t know. A lot of times things happen in our lives, and we don’t know where they’re headed. But as soon as Haman’s plan to wipe out the Jews was known, Mordecai was pretty sure he knew why Esther had been elevated. Similarly in our own lives, we can suddenly realize that there has been a sequence of events leading us to something. And then it’s up to us to act.

An interesting feature of Providence is that there’s frequently a strong element of individual choice left to us. We can go with what God has provided, or let it pass us by. Esther was hesitant. Mordecai was confident. When we wonder what to do, it might do us good to similarly seek the advice of others. Sometimes they’ll be able to see it more clearly than we can. To Esther’s lasting credit, when she got the advice, she believed that God was working in her life, and she committed herself to God without reservation. A great example for us!