Relief and Deliverance Will Rise

I've been reading, along with my church, through the Bible.  It is a blessing to read through the Bible together - as a family and as a church body.  There is accountability, encouragement, and some good discussions that take place when we are all on the same page.  

This week, I have been in Esther.  Do you ever read a passage and really see it for the first time - even though you've read it many times before?  I had one of those moments when reading Esther 4:14.  Mordecai tells Esther, "For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place...and who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (ESV, emphasis added)

Most of us are familiar with the story of Esther.  She is the Jewish girl chosen by the king to be his queen.  Then Haman, the king's advisor, decides he wants all the Jews annihilated - and gets the king to agree with him.  Esther's cousin, Mordecai wants Esther to talk to the king about it, even though it could mean her death.  I noticed for the first time that Mordecai has no doubt that deliverance will rise for the Jews. (See above verse.)  He thinks God plans to use Esther, but his confidence is not in Esther - it is in God.  His faith is such that he believes that God will rescue the Jews, whether he uses Mordecai's plan or not.  

Do you ever find yourself telling God how to do his job?  We see some impossible thing that needs to happen, and we pray.  We begin telling God about the situation and then line out for him how we think he should go about his deliverance.  We try hard to screw up enough faith to believe that God will do what we ask.  When our lined out plan for God isn't fulfilled, we become discouraged.  How often do we have faith - only as long as God does things our way?  

Our faith in God cannot be based in him fulfilling our plans; it must be based in him fulfilling His promises.  What does this mean?  For Mordecai, he was standing on the promise of God to the prophets - that God would bring the Jews back to their land.  If the Jews were utterly destroyed, God wouldn't be true to his word.  So Mordecai could believe, without a doubt, that God would rescue them.  He believed this even when Esther said she didn't want to go before the king - when Mordecai's plans looked like they might fall through.

What does it look like for us?  What promises can we stand on?  We know some things for certain: God will never leave us or forsake us.  God loves us.  God is good.  God will complete the good work that he began in us.  

We should never go beyond God's Word in claiming what God will do for us.  But if we ask, in accordance with His Word and His promises in His Word, we can be confident that God will act.  We never know what form God's fulfillment will take.  It might not look like what we want.  But we can, like Mordecai, believe that will provide "relief and deliverance" for us.  Even more amazing, God will walk with us through whatever difficulty we face. He does not leave us on our own. May we have Mordecai's faith in God - no matter what circumstances look like around us.

For those of you who are keeping track of our personal lives - we are settled into our little farm. We are now in our third month here, and it feels like home. Our farm now includes five chickens, three ducks, and three barn cats.  I'm hoping to add more animals soon.  I love the solitude and peace here - and the amazing sunrises!  I also love that we have ample room to have people over.  Many folks from our new church, as well as our old, have spent long afternoons on our front porch, while their children search for chicken eggs, pet barn cats, or played hide and seek in the cornfield.  I look forward to many more years on that porch - or in front of a warm fire.  God has truly given me the house/farm of my dreams, and I am very grateful.