Where was God when the very existence of His people, the Israelites, was at stake?
The Biblical story unfolds in ancient history when Babylon was defeated by the Persian empire and became a province under the rule of Persia. The year was 539 B.C. King Cyrus of Persia issued a decree that all the Babylonian captives were free to return to their homelands.
A Jewish man named Mordecai along with his orphaned first cousin, Esther, were among those set free. However, they chose to remain in Susa (one of four capitals in the Persian Empire which is modern-day Iran).
After a turn of events, the ruler of the Babylonian province hosted an extravagant banquet to display his wealth and accomplishments to nobles and commoners. He summoned Queen Vashti to appear before the drunken crowd of nobles and commoners. She refused. She was dismissed as queen and the search for a new queen began. Ahasuerus (Xerxes) ordered all the beautiful women of the Babylonian province to be brought to the palace harem to please Ahasuerus. Esther found favor and was made queen of Persia.
Mordecai heard of a plot by two angry doorkeepers to kill Cyrus. He told Esther and Esther revealed it to the king, and the two doorkeepers were put to death. Then Cyrus promoted Haman to be second in command. Haman hated the Jews and when Mordecai refused to bow to him, Haman plotted how not only to kill Mordecai but ALL the Jews. He was allowed to send out an edict to annihilate the Jews.
Mordecai heard of the plot to kill his people and revealed it to Esther. In the meantime, the edict went out to every province. When the Jews heard of the edict, they began to weep and to wail.
At first Esther was hesitant, fearing to appear before the king unsummoned. Mordecai said, “Who knows whether you have come for such a time as this?” Esther responded, “I will go to the king and if I perish, I perish!”
Where was God when all this was happening? This narrative demonstrates God’s providence and sovereignty in a situation that seemed hopeless. At a time when God seemed so distant, He was actually silently at work behind the scene orchestrating every event that took place in this remarkable story of how God rescued His people from annihilation. God is in control of every event and proves His protection of His people according to His plan.
Where was God when Charlie Kirk was assassinated?
Charlie Kirk was a man who found Christ, became a diligent and outspoken Christian to young, college-age people, and ultimately gave his life for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Nearly 100,000 gathered in person and over 3 million watched Charlie Kirk’s memorial service on different media. Every speaker declared the gospel, spoke about Jesus, and quoted Scripture. This triggered one of the greatest gospel outreaches in modern history.
Who but God could spread the gospel message of salvation by grace through faith across the world with the fervency and passion like what happened after Charlie’s death? And in a matter of a few hours?
So where was God when this was happening? God was faithfully etching His story of redemption all over the world simultaneously because of Charlie Kirk.
I can testify of my own experience of where is God when… Because of covid rules and hospital protocol during the covid pandemic, I was not allowed to be with my husband as he lay dying – alone – in the hospital. I spent the entire day and night weeping, asking God over and over, “Why couldn’t I be with Burt?” God answered, “Because I was.”
I have come to firmly believe that God is at work whether visibly or silently and will not stop until His purpose, the redemption of mankind, is accomplished.
God’s plan and purpose were set in motion before time began. So when things happen in a way that we may not understand, we must trust God and His unrelenting pursuit of our redemption and His glory.
I wish you a very joyful and blessed new year! Rita