Esther 16 - God's Timing

An important concept for us to remember is that God’s timing may not always be the same as ours. Most of us tend to get very impatient rather easily and sometimes it is easy to make demands on God as well as others that may not be in His perfect will.

Chuck Swindoll wrote a book on Esther and makes the comment that God lives and moves outside the realm of earthly time. He does this because He exists eternally. God instituted the concept of time for the convenience of humans, but He transcends it because He has no beginning and no end. It is critical that we never lose confidence in God.

Sometimes as we bring our requests to Him it seems that He is silent; that He does not answer. Nevertheless He is still at work in our lives. If we don’t believe this, during the times when we think He is silent we may panic, doubt, become cynical, resentful and even bitter at Him.

There are a couple of things we need to remember about the way God works. First, there are times when it seems He is silent and not responding. Secondly, the turning points of life, the significant events, are often subtle. A sensitive heart is required to detect those things. Remember that time in the book of Esther when the king could not sleep and by reading he remembered Mordecai had saved his life and then shortly after that Haman shows up in the court. This is a subtle, but very significant event in the story of Esther. Nothing is coincidental in the Christian life. Luck has no place in our vocabulary.

Esther had a sensitive heart and a sensitive ear. Remember she didn’t tell the king about her problem at the first banquet. I think she sensed the timing wasn’t right and created another opportunity by asking them to come back for a second banquet. Eccl. 3:1, 7 says “…there is a time for every event under heaven…a time to be silent, and a time to speak”.

You may go through some very tough periods in your life; most of us do. Remember that no barrier is too high, no chasm too wide for God. He is not limited by space or time, by the visible or the invisible. He lives in a realm that transcends all that. He is all powerful. God will have His way when He pleases and for His glory.

I urge you to be sensitive to God’s leading in your life. He may seem silent at times, but He is not absent. Listen for His voice. How do you do that? Study the Bible and pray. Listen to the counsel of those Christians who you know are mature and balanced believers. Remember that the workings of God are not related to our clocks; they are related to our crises. Don’t hesitate to come to God with your frustrations. Prayer can be very calming when there is a crisis in our lives. Remember He loves you and desires His best for you.