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Esther and Providence
Esther and Providence
We know a lot of about God’s activity because He has revealed it to us. Yet, the vast majority of things that God has done since the creation of the world are simply unknown to us. Not only do we not know what He has done, we also do not have any idea of HOW He did it. Thus, He has made great promises unto us that involve Him providing for our needs. We call this ‘providence’. God has asked us to trust Him.
Note Mordecai’s famous quote: “Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14b). Not knowing how, when, or exactly what God will do in providing for us leaves us to walk by TRUST (faith) in HIM.
He was not the first or last to talk about ‘who knows what God will do’! As Nathan Ward commented on this: “This characteristic of the faithful not presuming upon God is a theme that runs consistently through the Bible”1. Nathan gives several more examples of similar statements: David in 2 Sam. 12:22-23, Joel in Joel 2:12-14, the King of Nineveh in Jonah 3:7-9.
Ward goes on to point out that as children of God “there must be a regular appreciation of God’s working in the world, especially as so much of the world tends to secularism and even Christians tend toward deism”.2
Along with the above, he concludes: “There must be a hesitance to speak for God. The reality is that without some kind of special revelation, people simply cannot know for certain what God is up to in their live, and there should be humility in regard to this”.3
We are to not only believe THAT God exists, but we are to believe IN God – to trust Him. As Peter admonished: “cast all our cares upon Him for He cares for us” (1Pet. 5: ). This undergirds our very prayers that God would help us, protect us, feed us, etc.
Ward concluded: “Their hesitancy does not detract from their faith. They clearly believed God was active, and he may well be working in that specific way, but they had the humility to allow for God to be sovereign—for his ways are unsearchable and unknowable (Isa. 40:28; Psa. 145:3; Rom. 11:33; Eph. 3:19-20; etc.) – and for him to reveal his purposes and plans on his own timeline.4
When things are going well, pray with thanksgiving. When things are not going well – pray with supplication and trust. Is this the kind of faith you are walking by?
Hugh DeLong
PLEASE NOTE the source of these footnotes. I encourage you to buy the book and study it.
1Nathan Ward, God Unseen, A Theological Introduction to Esther, DeWard Publishing Company, Ohio, pg. 126
2Ibid, pg. 133
3Ibid, pg. 134
4Ibid, pg. 134
