Okay, so I have to tell you, I am LOVING this study. The uniqueness of the book of Esther has already captivated me. I am exhilarated by the fact that there is a total absence of any reference to God, and by the idea that, although God’s name may not be specifically written in this book of the Bible, His fingerprints are all over it. As one who has not seen and yet believes (see John 20:29), I find this very encouraging.
I don’t know about you, but I flat-out struggle with faith sometimes. I will use a recent incident as an example to better explain:
About three weeks ago, my mom’s husband Jeff’s heart started palpitating uncontrollably. Of course he ended up going to the hospital. But even at the hospital, it wouldn’t stop. I prayed for him throughout the day, but my prayers were somewhat distracted amidst a busy day with two children. That night, however, when I laid my head down on my pillow, I was convicted to stop and earnestly pray for Jeff. Now I am not one to test God. Jesus was pretty clear that we are not to do that (Matthew 4:7; Luke 4:12). But for some reason, in the midst of my prayer, I found myself opening my eyes, looking straight at the clock on my husband’s nightstand, noting the time (11:57 pm), and praying something like this: “Father God, I come to you in the name of your Son Jesus Christ, by whose blood alone I am worthy to speak in your presence. I know you are good, and my faith in you will be unshaken either way, but if it be your will, please restore Jeff’s heart to a normal beat - right now. And if it pleases you to increase my faith in so answering my prayer, I ask that you would make it known to me that Jeff’s heart rate returned to normal at about midnight tonight. I will not ask my mom if this happened. But if she tells me, I will know that indeed you heard my prayer and my faith will be strengthened.” The next day, I checked in with my mom to see how Jeff was doing. She was at the hospital, and literally the first words out of her mouth to me were, “Jeff’s heart rate returned to normal at about midnight last night.” The Lord knows I am not making this up. This is how it went down. And yet, upon hearing her words, instead of a sense of overwhelming faith, I was overcome with (believe it or not) doubt. Doubt! There it was again. I was so frustrated. My journal can speak for itself: “The LORD answers prayer so specifically and yet I still doubt/second guess. Why can’t I believe it could really be so? Why can’t I believe God heard my prayer and answered directly? Lord, in Jesus’ name I ask you to strengthen my faith... Why is my human nature inclined to classify this as mere coincidence? This was an act of the Most High and Sovereign God - Creator of Heaven and Earth... There is no ‘coincidence’... This word should not exist. It’s a lie. Give me faith Father! So I can give you proper glory with my words and with my whole heart....”
After this incident, and in the weeks leading up to this study, I continued to consider my inner-battle between faith and “coincidence”. It kept coming up. Mere coincidence? Well, that was the issue now, wasn’t it?
In short, I believe God was and is giving me an inner-yearning to fully embrace the idea that God is not only sovereign over, but also actively involved in, my life. It is my hope and prayer that this muscle of my faith will be forever strengthened through this study of Esther. And I have good reason to believe that it will. If you participated in our introductory video session, you know why. You can imagine how I shook my head and smiled when Beth said, “Coincidences are miracles in which God prefers to remain anonymous.” And when we filled in the following paragraph of our viewer guide (page 8):
[The book of Esther] extends a vital perspective on the
providence of God. Merriam Webster’s definition of
providence: “God conceived as the power sustaining
and guiding human destiny.” Holman Illustrated Bible
Dictionary adds, “In so doing [in His providence] God
attends not only to apparently momentous events and
people but also to those that seem both mundane and
trivial. ...Indeed, so all encompassing is God’s attention
to events within creation that nothing ... happens by
chance.”
Did you catch that last sentence? So all encompassing is God’s attention to events within creation that: nothing - happens - by - chance. Amen.
This week, we’ll be watching video session one. The viewer guide (to be completed while watching the video session) can be found on pages 32 and 33 of our workbooks.
*** PLEASE NOTE: The Lifeway website has CHANGED! To order the “Session 1” video, make sure you choose the box that says “Session 1” in the section that says “Select Session Number.” I cannot send you a direct link to buy the introduction video for some reason with the format of the new website. ***
http://www.lifeway.com/Product/esther-its-tough-being-a-woman-video-sessions-M00000120#
Our homework for week two begins on page 34 and ends on page 55 of our workbooks. Make every effort to complete this homework before next Tuesday, when I will post the link for our next video session and discuss some of the things that we learned this week.
Please post comments and/or prayer requests at any point throughout the week. Please know that I am so encouraged when you post about what God is teaching you. It is straight-up fuel to my fire. I so look forward to hearing from you.
Amy :)
2 comments:
Well today is my catch up day! Thank you again Amy for letting me start now! xoxo
I sometimes have a problem with faith. It sometimes bothers me when I am really stressed, like for instance, our move down here, and people say 'you just have to have faith and pray" of course I know that, and even if something horrible happens, it doesn't change my mind or faith in Jesus. But what I doubt sometimes is God's will. We know that sometimes horrible things happen to good people. We know that people die sometimes no matter how many prayers are said. We know that sometimes God just lets bad things happen. Sometimes we don't know the whole story. Maybe he saved someone else (like an organ donor), or lessened someones pain (rather than dragging cancer out 20 years), or answered a prayer of someone else that was praying too (like if you are both trying to win something) . Or maybe he is sifting you. (which even if you can recognize it doesn't make it any less painful) And so whether anything horrible happened, even though I would still believe just as strongly, I have a hard time trusting the process and God's will.
I'm glad Jeff is doing well, that is really awesome!!! I heard something in church along the lines of "a coincedence is a miracle in which God remains anonymous." It is so amazing when things not only work out, but exactly as you ask!
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