THOUGHTS ON ESTHER: "For Such a Time as This"

Part 1

Introduction

For several months, now, I have been thinking a lot about the Book of Esther, and I am always encouraged by seeing how God was not taken by surprise by the scheme that the devil was trying to work against the Jewish people.  He did not strike His forehead with the palm of His hand and say, ”Wow, I didn’t see that one coming!”  Instead, He already had a plan in place before that scheme ever began to unfold through Haman.  He had been preparing an unknown young Jewish orphan to be in just the right place at just the right time to do something to thwart that scheme before it could be activated.  As Mordecai, her cousin, wisely observed, Esther had “come to the kingdom for such a time as this.”

Now, please understand that this was no small thing that was going on here.  The devil had put hatred for the Jews who were living as captives in ancient Persia (modern-day Iran, which at that time extended from India to Ethiopia) in the heart of Haman, one of King Xerxes’ high officials.  Haman then devised a plot that, if left unchecked, would have wiped out most of the Jewish people alive at that time!  But because of Esther’s intervention, God not only stopped the scheme, but instead turned it completely around so that the Jews were able to wipe out THEIR enemies instead!  Amazing!

What I have found especially intriguing as I have been meditating on this story is the similarity of the conditions of the world in which we live today to those found in the Book of Esther.  All over the world the devil is devising schemes to destroy God’s people, both Jews and Christians alike.  The heads of the government in Iran would like nothing better than to wipe Israel off the face of the earth; radical Muslims the world over hate both Israel and the U.S. (calling us the great Satan); and even here in our own nation, it seems that the only clearly-defined people group that can be openly criticized, persecuted, and condemned for their beliefs are committed Christians.  Is this taking God by surprise?  Did He not see it coming?

No!  God is never ignorant of what is happening, nor is He guilty of playing catch-up!  He already has a plan in place to do something, and that plan involves people; people like you and me!  I believe that those of us who belong to Him were brought to the kingdom (His Kingdom) “for such a time as this!”  God does not make mistakes.  He planned for us to be alive right now because He desires to use us in the strategies that He is already putting into play that will destroy the works of the devil.  You and I have a far more significant role in this thing than we give ourselves credit for.  Think of it this way:  when time is running out, and the game is on the line, who does the coach send in?  The third-string players?  Someone out of the stands?  No, he sends in the best he has available for “such a time as this!”

God wants to send us into the game because time is running out, and the game truly is on the line.  But we have to be among the best that He has available; and we can be!  As we look at what happened with Esther so that she became the best available at that time, I believe that we will see some areas in which the Lord desires to work in us so that we, also, will become those whom He chooses to put in the game “for such a time as this!”

Next:  Part 2, Separation

THOUGHTS ON JONAH 6

Still Imperfect!

Even though I have read the Book of Jonah many times, I am still bothered by the way it ends.  I mean, you would think that Jonah would have learned something from his experience in the belly of the fish; yet here he is angry at God!  First he is angry because God relented when the people repented and Nineveh is NOT destroyed.  Then he is angry because a plant that was giving him shade IS destroyed.  How proud and selfish can one man be?  His pride is wounded because the judgment that HE decreed over Nineveh did not happen --- he thinks it makes him look bad.  And his selfishness is apparent because obviously his level of concern for the plant is directly related to his own degree of personal comfort.  As a result, he has compassion for the plant, but none for the people of Nineveh.  Looks like misplaced priorities to me!  Sounds kind of like the radical environmentalists who want to preserve all species of plant life, but who are also pro-abortion, doesn’t it?

But lest we too quickly judge others, let us also look to ourselves; or maybe I should just look to myself.  I hate to admit it, but there have been too many times when I, also, have allowed pride and selfishness to cause me to be more concerned for myself than for others.  This is just the opposite of what Rom.12:10 (NIV) exhorts us to do when it says, “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”  We can only effectively do that as we learn to die to “self” and begin to take on more of the character of Jesus.  The Gospels tell us several times that He was moved by compassion.  Compassion is a fruit of humility and selflessness.  May we become more compassionate towards others as we lay aside our pride and selfishness!

O.K., back to Jonah.  In my opinion, he must have learned something from the rebuke that God gave him in chapter 4, because he is later referred to as a prophet; and the book about him did make the final cut to be included in the Bible.  But what can WE learn from this final chapter?

First, we should never think that just because we have properly responded to God when He has revealed something to us in one area of our lives that needed changing does not mean that nothing else about us needs changing.  We must do everything we can to keep our hearts tender before Him so that He can continue the process of changing us “from glory to glory” more and more into the image of Jesus (2Cor.3:18).

Second, even though we all still have areas in our lives that need to be dealt with, God continues to love us and to use us for His glory.  In fact, He knew all along that we would not be perfect, yet He chose to use us anyway!  That way, He gets the glory when something really good happens.  That’s why it says in 2Cor.4:7 (NIV), “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

And finally, it’s all right if things don’t go the way we think they should.  In fact, it’s O.K. if we even come out looking bad!  As long as God brings about what He wants and He comes out looking good, it doesn’t really matter what happens to us.  After all, it’s not about us, now is it?  As John the Baptist said in Jn.3:30 (NIV), “He must become greater; I must become less.”

I hope you were blessed by something you read in “Thoughts on Jonah!”

THOUGHTS ON JONAH 5

How’d You Do That?!?

Chapter 3, verses 4 & 5 say a couple of interesting things that could be easily overlooked if we aren’t careful. “Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s walk; and he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.” (NAS)


The first thing to notice is how quickly the people of Nineveh began to repent. Verse 3 tells us that it takes three days to walk across the city, yet Jonah was only into his first day’s walk when they were already repenting!


The second thing is that Jonah is no great preacher! He only says eight words, he has only one point to make, and he does not even elaborate on it with any jokes or illustrations! Had he been in my Homiletics class at Phillips University, he never would have passed! So, obviously it was not Jonah’s great preaching abilities that produced repentance in120,000 people including even their king. So, what was it then?


Some have speculated that word of what happened to Jonah had preceded him to Nineveh and that the people were already starting to repent before he even arrived. Others say that his appearance after being in the belly of the fish for three days was enough to cause people to repent! Well, he probably was quite a sight: hair and skin bleached by stomach acids, perhaps some blisters on his face and hands, smelling like vomit! But, come on now; this was Nineveh! These were a fierce and greatly feared warlike people; not easily moved by what they saw and heard. So what caused them to repent so quickly and fully?


It must have been something about the presence of God on Jonah! As we see throughout Scripture, whenever God’s presence shows up, the first thing that happens is that people become aware of their sin --- His light exposes it. Then people either choose to run (like Jonah did the first time) or they fall on their faces before Him and repent. No wonder He’s always saying, “Fear not!” It was obviously God’s presence there with Jonah that affected the people so dramatically.


So, what did Jonah do to merit God’s presence with him so strongly? How did he earn it? The truth is, he didn’t! We cannot merit or earn God’s presence. When Jonah repented and obeyed, he began to walk in the anointing of God’s presence. It didn’t matter how eloquent he was or how he looked, God’s presence was all that was needed to touch a city!


And you know what? The same is true for each of us. When we are confronted with and touched by His presence, and we choose to repent and obey Him in whatever He wants from us, we may discover that the anointing of His presence is with us, also! Try it; you’ll like it!

Next: Part 6

THOUGHTS ON JONAH 4

About, Face; Forward, March!

I find it interesting that it took THREE DAYS in the belly of the fish before Jonah finally repented! I mean, I’ve known some really stubborn people in my life (myself included), but you’d think that five or ten minutes in a fish’s stomach would have been more than enough time to solicit repentance from even the worst of us! So why did it take THREE DAYS for Jonah to repent? Well, most likely, Jonah began to cry out to God immediately after he was swallowed, but it probably took that long before GENUINE repentance took place!


In the early 1970’s I was an Adult Probation Officer for Harris County, Texas (the Houston area), and I had a caseload of over 100 people placed on probation by the District Court for some kind of felony offense. Back then, Possession of Marijuana was considered a felony offense, so my caseload consisted of people on probation for everything from possession of an ounce of marijuana to committing murder, and everything in between. I placed a couple of Christian posters up in my cubicle, and I took advantage of every opportunity I could to witness to those who had to report to me on a regular basis. Several actually gave their hearts to the Lord during that time, but there were also quite a few who got in trouble again while on probation and wound up back in jail. Some of them would then write to me from jail and describe how they had begun praying and asking God to forgive them; then they would ask me to help them get out! They were experiencing what I began to refer to as a “jail-house conversion.” Oh, they were truly sorry, all right; sorry they got caught; sorry they were paying the consequences of their actions; and they were trying to “plea-bargain” with God! You know what that is, right? It’s when you say something like, “God, if you’ll just get me out of this, I promise that I will ___________ (fill in the blank)!” Of course, none of us has ever done anything like that, right?!?


But that is not genuine repentance. Genuine repentance is something that begins in the heart. This is what Jonah was expressing in chapter 2. He wasn’t looking for an escape; he was speaking out of a heart that had truly changed! True repentance begins when we see our sin for what it really is in all of its ugliness, and we are truly sorry for what we have done. The Greek word in the New Testament that we translate as “repent” is the same word that would have been used in the military to give the command, “About, face!” It means that we must first make a 180 degree turn IN OUR HEARTS, and that we then begin to walk it out in our lives (“Forward, march!”).


The walking-it-out part is where our repentance is made complete. Without it, our “repentance” is just faith without works which, as Paul tells us, is useless (Jas.2:20 NAS). It is at this point that we must rely heavily upon the grace of God (Grace = God doing in us, for us, with us, through us, or to us what we cannot do ourselves.)! Without His grace we try to change and fail, then we fall into condemnation and eventually give up. Or, if by some chance we manage to walk part of it out in our own strength, we fall prey to pride and need to repent again! However, when we ask for His grace to walk out what has transpired in our heart, then He gets the praise and the glory as we see our lives being changed!


When God saw that Jonah had truly had a change of heart, He responded with His grace and caused the fish to vomit Jonah out on dry ground! Jonah now had the opportunity to walk out his repentance!


Next: Part 5, HOW’D YOU DO THAT?!?

THOUGHTS ON JONAH 3

Part 3: Can God Use THAT?!?

When Jonah fled from God’s presence, he went down to Joppa and boarded a ship bound for Tarshish. Obviously, no one can hide from God, and Jonah’s sin not only put him in jeopardy, but also everyone else on board the boat when the storm God sent threatened to sink it. At first the sailors had no clue as to why they encountered this storm, but they were so terrified by its ferocity that each one began to pray to his own god. When this didn’t work, they cast lots to see who was responsible for the calamity, and the lot fell on Jonah. After Jonah admitted that he was the source of their problem and told them that the only way to resolve it was to throw him overboard, they still tried to row through the storm because they didn’t want to kill him. When they finally admitted that there was no other way to escape death themselves, they relented and agreed to throw Jonah over. Jonah 1:14-16 then says, “Then they cried to the LORD, "O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased." Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.”


Did you notice the change that took place? The sailors forsook praying to their old gods and began to pray to the Lord, and when they saw the sea grow calm, they apparently turned their hearts fully toward Him! God used Jonah’s disobedience (and the way He dealt with it) to reveal Himself to others!


So, Ron, are you saying that God can use a believer’s sin (be it disobedience, rebellion, or whatever it may be) to bring about something good? Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying! Consider Samson as another example. His lust after foreign women (and especially Delilah) was totally against the law of God, yet God used it to bring defeat to the Philistines! Or what about that rebellious, self-serving prophet Balaam who wanted to be paid to prophesy bad things against Israel, yet God forced him to prophesy blessing instead?


Or what about me? While I was attending college in the late ‘60’s, I gradually slid farther and farther away from a close relationship with the Lord and engaged in activities that I much regretted later. On one occasion, I was attending a going-away party for some friends who had just graduated. As was the custom at such events, alcohol was abundant, and everyone (me included) was freely imbibing. At one point in the evening, some of the guys began making toasts, and one of my friends raised his glass and offered a toast to me, thanking me for introducing him to the girl he was soon to marry. Before I even had time to think about what I was saying, I responded with, “Yeah, well, you think that was good, some day I’ll introduce you to Jesus!” I guess everyone was too drunk to even notice what I had said, but my friend kind of smiled at me funny, and everyone went on with the party. As for me, I couldn’t figure out why I had said that, especially at a time like that, and in the condition that I was in. As far as I knew then, he was not yet a believer, but I didn’t even take time to follow up and actually witness to him … too ashamed of the hypocrisy I had been living, I guess. Well, after everyone went their separate ways, we fell out of contact with each other, and it was probably ten years later before I stumbled upon him again; and guess what … he was a pastor of a church somewhere in Texas! When I called and talked with him, he told me that what I said to him that night continued to work in him until he finally gave his heart to the Lord and eventually wound up in full-time ministry! In spite of my backslidden state, God had still used me to plant something in someone else that eventually helped get him into God’s plan for his life!


Now, does that in any way imply that what I was doing was O.K., or that Jonah’s disobedience was not all that bad, or that Samson’s sin was overlooked by God, or that Balaam was not still a rebellious prophet? No! What it does say is that God can redeem something out of any situation, no matter how bad it may be! So, when we find ourselves asking, “Can God use THAT?!?” The answer is, “Yes!” And when He does, it does not justify our sin, but it showcases His mercy!


Next, Part 4: About, Face; Forward, March!

THOUGHTS ON JONAH 2c

Part 2c: That Can’t be God!

A number of years ago, when I was pastoring a church in Irving, TX, I saw a report on the news about a church in Houston that had received a package in the mail with no return address; and when the secretary opened it, the package blew up and injured her severely. A few days later, a large thick manila envelope came to our church, addressed to me, but with no return address. Well, great man of faith that I was, I immediately presumed that it was probably a bomb! After several hours of debating with myself over whether or not I should open it, if I should call the police, or if I should just throw it away, I finally decided to call a friend and get his opinion. He quickly calmed my fears and deflated my ego when he simply said that neither I nor the church was significant enough for anyone to want to send me a bomb! So I went ahead and opened the package (still a bit cautiously, I must confess), and what I found was a study workbook that I had ordered a few weeks earlier and that I was really looking forward to reading! I was quite relieved and very thankful for two things: 1) that I had not called the bomb squad, and 2) that I did not allow my fear of the “unknown” to cause me to miss out on receiving something that I wanted very much!

How many times have we shied away from God’s presence because of some freaky-looking manifestations that we witnessed in others, or because of horror stories we heard others tell, or because we allowed our imaginations to torment us with strange things that might happen to us in His presence? How many times have we looked at something that we did not understand and said, “That can’t be God!” and turned our backs, not only on what we saw, but also on Him? How many times have we missed out on something really good that God had planned for us to experience in His presence because we were afraid of the “unknown?”


Now, please don’t get me wrong! I am not in any way suggesting that everything that has been passed off as “from God” really is something that He did! But what I am saying is that we should not just automatically rule something out because it doesn’t fit into our understanding of what God does or what He is like. Many people in the Bible experienced things in God’s presence that were definitely outside of their paradigms! Think about what Moses must have thought when his rod turned into a snake; or what Aaron thought when he saw Miriam instantly covered with leprosy; or Jonah when he was swallowed by the huge fish; or the disciples when Jesus cursed the fig tree for not having figs, and it wasn’t even the season for figs; or what the early church thought when Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead; or Saul when the Lord knocked him to the ground and struck him blind! All of these people experienced something in God’s presence that was outside their paradigms; and besides that, there was no “scriptural precedent” for any of it! Someone may respond, “But back then God was establishing scriptural precedents that He no longer moves outside of!” If by that statement you mean that He does nothing now that He has not already done somewhere in Scripture, then you are trying to force Him to fit inside your box! The true scriptural precedent that He was setting for us to understand is that He is totally unpredictable and that He will NOT be made to fit into anyone’s box! If He never moved outside our paradigms --- in other words, if we could keep Him in a box and make Him predictable --- then He would not be God!


O.K., I know that some of you are thinking about some very specific things that you have witnessed or heard about that you would NEVER want happening to you! Tell me, do you believe (as I do) that God always has a purpose in everything that He does? If so, then it stands to reason that you would also believe that everything He sends your way is for your good, right? Then, whatever He causes to happen to you is because you need it! Let me give you a couple of examples of what I am talking about. One time when my wife was enjoying His presence, she began to laugh uncontrollably. This went on for about 45 minutes, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop laughing! Afterwards, she felt a bit embarrassed by it and could not understand why God had done that to her. But a couple of weeks later she suddenly realized that the ever-present feelings of condemnation that she had suffered with for years were gone! God had removed them from her while she was on the floor laughing! For me, during that season when we were enjoying what we called “the river” of His presence, I would nearly always experience what appeared to be drunkenness in that I would weave and wobble when trying to walk or even while sitting in my chair. It was really embarrassing, but I realized later that God was dealing with an area of pride in my life --- I was always wanting to “look good” in front of others. I needed that experience! Whatever God has waiting for us in His presence is something we need!


But isn’t it possible to get deceived and experience something that is not from God? Yes, it is possible; I have seen it happen, and you probably have, too. But the way I understand it, that only seems to happen when we seek after some kind of EXPERIENCE or when we pursue MANIFESTATIONS instead of simply desiring to be in His PRESENCE! Things DO happen in His presence, but if we put the emphasis on those things instead of on Him, we make ourselves more vulnerable to deception! What I try to stand on is what Jesus said in Luke 11:11-13, "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" There are two very important things to see here: 1) God will NEVER give us a counterfeit of anything good that we are asking for, and 2) what we should be asking for is more of the Holy Spirit in our lives instead of experiences and manifestations! It is through His Holy Spirit that we experience His presence, and in His presence we will experience only what He has planned for us!


Does that mean that we will always ENJOY everything we experience in His presence? No. Sometimes His presence produces conviction, Godly sorrow, and repentance. Or sometimes He wants to use some kind of experience to deal with something in our lives (like my pride). It may not always be a “fun” time, but it always bears some really good fruit! We need whatever it is that He has for us in His presence. And, yes, whenever we seek to come into His presence, we are facing the possibility of encountering something we have not experienced before, but let us not allow fear of the unknown to keep us away from that which He desires for us there!


I like the way C.S. Lewis puts it in The Chronicles of Narnia; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when the children are first hearing about Aslan from the Beavers:


“But shall we see him?” asked Susan.
“Why, Daughter of Eve, that’s what I brought you here for. I’m to lead you where you shall meet him,” said Mr. Beaver.
“Is – is he a man?” asked Lucy.
“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King I tell you.”


No, His presence is not a “safe” place for the areas of our lives that need to change, but it is definitely a GOOD place!


Next, Part 3: Can God Use THAT?!?

THOUGHTS ON JONAH 2b

Part 2b: I Shall Not be Moved!

Chorus:
     I shall not be, I shall not be moved;
     I shall not be, I shall not be moved;
    Just like a tree that's planted by the waters,
    Lord, I shall not be moved.






Please forgive me for taking this out of context, because the verses to this song speak of a steadfast commitment to Jesus and His Word. However, the chorus, taken by itself, makes me think about a lot of Christians I have known who have exchanged a steadfast commitment for a stubborn resistance! If you are a leader, and you want to see just how “Christian” your followers really are, suggest some kind of major change. Before long, you will hear a lot of “I shall not be, I shall not be moved” being sung by many (if not most) of them! Now, obviously, the younger the group you lead and the shorter the time that they have been together, the more flexible they will tend to be with change; but even with that group you will at the very least encounter some reluctance on the part of some. Why? Because people tend to resist change; and the more so the longer things have been a certain way before change is proposed!


People resist change for one or both of two basic reasons …


1.) Change rocks their boat!


2.) Change is going to cost them something!


1.) Change DOES rock the boat! It forces us out of some or all of our comfort zones, and we like being comfortable, so we tend to resist change! We like our food a certain way, we like our home a certain way, we like our schedule a certain way, we like our relationships a certain way, and on and on. Why? Because we get used to it that way, and it becomes our place of refuge and security … we feel “safe” there! And what really amazes me is that we can get that way about things that, in reality, are not all that great in themselves or that are possibly even downright bad! I mean, I can understand struggling a bit with leaving a nice home and a great job to spend your life on the mission field in some foreign country where you will feel completely out of your element, but struggling with making a two-week mission trip to Mexico because you don’t want to miss “Survivor,” … I mean, come on now! O.K., I know I’m stepping on some toes here (mine included), but let me ask this question: How many times have we missed out on what God wanted for us because we were unwilling to let go of something we’re “comfortable” with in order take on something different?


2.) Change ALWAYS costs something! Getting married means that you now share your space with someone else. Moving to a new town means finding a new church, new friends, a new school for your kids, and so on. Your kids growing up and moving out means an empty nest. A new direction for your church may mean a new style of worship. Revival means that you may have to accept people into your church who are different! A new pastor for your church means adapting to a new style of leadership. A deeper relationship with the Lord means giving Him more control of your life and letting go of that “pet” sin that you thought He really didn’t care that much about. Sometimes the prospective change is attractive enough that we are willing to pay the price without much hesitation, but quite often we count the cost and say, “No! I shall not be moved!” And, once again, we miss God.


So, what does all this have to do with avoiding God’s presence? Well, deep down we instinctively know that His presence seeks to produce changes in us, with us, for us, through us, or to us; and since we tend to be uncomfortable with change to begin with, then we’re not at all confident that we’re going to like the changes or be willing to pay the price that they will require … so, we avoid His presence! And what we are REALLY saying by avoiding His presence (because of our resistance to change) is that we do not yet fully trust Him to be the Lord of our lives! We still doggedly hold on to the idea that WE know what’s best for us! What foolish arrogance! Why do we have such a hard time believing that the One who created the universe and created us individually just the way He did, does not also know what we’re best suited for and what is best for our lives? If we could simply embrace the truth of Jer.29:11, then we would hunger after the changes that His presence brings and actively seek after Him!


'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.’ (Jer.29:11, NAS)


Next, Part 2c: That Can’t be God!