Be Ready To Stand

Stand Up: Letting God Use You: Be Ready To Stand: Esther 2:5-18  

A Challenging Book With A Challenging Example:

• God is not mentioned in this book
• The treatment of women
• Esther: Unwillingly victimized by an unbearable situation, by God’s grace, she stood up and made a difference!

Central Theme:

God’s Invisible Providence/Sovereignty

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33)

“At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:34–35)

“He is there and He is not silent.”  Francis Schaeffer

The Story Begins

• The King (1:1)
• The Banquets (1:2-9)
• The queen’s refusal and Banishment (1:10-22)
• The Plan for a new queen (2:1-4)

God Moves In Mysterious Ways and

In Mundane Days

1. God Places us in the right places, at the right times for His purposes (5-8)

• God Knows right where you are

• God’s Timing is rarely the same as our timing

2. God Connects us with other people for His purposes (9-11, 15)

• God can grant us Favor with people – Be Grateful

• God can give us Opportunity through people – Be Open

• God can Guide us through people – Be Teachable

3. God may Entrust us with positions of power and influence for His purposes (15-18)

• God is not Limited by the things that we think limit us

• Power and influence are Tools to be used for God’s purposes

“Leadership is a stewardship.  It’s temporary and you’re accountable.”  Andy Stanley

Some Important Reminders

1. Even in tumultuous Circumstances, God is at work

2. God is at work whether I See It Or Not

3. God is at work in the Ordinary as well as the Extraordinary

God Moves In Mysterious Ways and In Mundane Days

Making It Personal

• Where am I struggling to really believe that God is in control and at work in my life right now?

• Which of the truths above do I most need to focus on currently in my life?

• What difference will it make in my attitude and approach to life when I truly believe that God is in control and at work?

• Who can I share these truths with?