-Strength for Today- "In the Midst of Trials, God is Often Silent." - Esther 5: 1-8.

Esther is the only book in the Bible not to mention the name of God. That’s not to say God was absent. His presence permeates much of the story, as though He were behind the scenes:

·       Coordinating

·       Coincidences and

·       Circumstances

     In order to make His will known.

    So what’s the big idea?  In life, as it were with Esther and Mordecai, events may seem to be out of control, and evil is poised in its deviant manner to triumph,

God was at work. He worked through their dark days, (2:1-16), and their faithful obedience. Chapters 1-3, Esther risked her life before the king. She revealed Haman’s plot for destroying the Jews.’ The message is clear:

·       God is sovereign even when

·       Life doesn’t make sense.

    So since we’re trapped in this earthbound cage, where light is often diffused, God is sometimes silent So:

·       How can we be sensitive to His interventions?

·       What do we do when we, like Job, struggle in the “fog with God's silence,” when we're convinced that His silence means He’s absence?

    But please be assured:

·       God isn’t absent.

·       He may be silent, but

·       He’s never absent.

    Fog may have you blindsided, but even in this condition, I urge you to listen with great “sensitivity,” because His message “unbeknown to the human psyche” will come in various ways. Sometimes well-meaning people will openly declare that: they:

·       See skywriting in the clouds, and they

·       Hear voices in the night.

    I want you to Hear me well, that's not the kind of "voice" I'm talking about. Listen:

1.    God gave you a mind.

2.    God gave you reason, and

3.    God gave you a unique sensitivity,

     That’s built into your “spiritual system,” and each person's system is tuned differently. God wants to reveal His will to you and to teach you while you’re waiting. So while you are waiting, don't start searching for “eerie stuff.” Why?  “Because, we walk by faith, and not by sight” - 2 Corinthians 5:7. So:

·       Get into His Word,

·       Get on your knees,

And only accept counsel from those who’re maturing and balanced believers, who are “solidly biblical” in their theology and in their own lives, and wait on God.

      All through the Bible, there’re passages of scripture that bring comfort and insight. Passages that’re:

·       Appealing and

·       Spiritually informative.

    Meditate on those, and wait, and listen with a sensitive ear. And like Esther, “don't rush into big decisions.” Verses 6- 8, expresses the pertinent purpose for “silence.” And may I be painfully direct? Don't talk so much! Believers who’re maturing:

·       Not only respect God's silence,

·       They model it as well.

Just A Closer Walk with Thee

I am weak but Thou art strong, Jesus keep me from all wrong

I'll be satisfied as long as I walk, let me walk close to Thee

Just a closer walk with Thee, grant it, Jesus, is my plea.

Daily walking close to Thee let it be, dear Lord, let it be

When my feeble life is o'er, time for me will be no more.

Guide me gently, safely o'er to Thy kingdom's shore, to Thy shore.

Author Unknown: Circumstantial evidence strongly suggested it dated back to southern African-American churches of the nineteenth century, possibly even prior to the Civil War. As some personal African American historians recall "slaves singing as they worked in the fields a song about “walking by the Lord's side."

Author: Plez Lovelady, Jr., PhD