For Such A Time As This - Wait!

So they told Mordecai Esther’s words. And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.  For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” So Mordecai went his way and did according to all that Esther commanded him. – Esther 4:12-17

I find it manly to read the book of Esther. I think that it's because it has so much to teach me that I know is foreign to my personality. And, as I got to the end I had a revelation. Here it is: Even though what happened in the three days between chapters 4 and 5 is not recorded, (read chapters 4 and 5 to understand the importance of what I am saying.) don't think for a moment that God had just sort of taken a break. Because He is the God of the Universe it is possible that we might think that His time, busy with other things, was simply in a sort of out of sight/out of mind kind of state.

When we think about God we have much to remember.

Like this…Remember, He may be invisible, but He is at work. He is invisible and just because we cannot see Him working does not mean He somehow puts our lives on that back burner. I rather think that's the beauty of His invisibility. He can be moving in thousands of places at the same time, working in circumstances that are beyond our control but not just ours but in the lives of millions, literally, millions of other people He loves fully.

It’s a big job remembering that. But, work on it. It shows progress in your relationship with God as your Father.

For you and I, during a waiting period, God is not only working in our hearts, He's working in others' hearts and in our minds and in the minds of others as well. And all the while He is strengthening the lives of all of those who name Jesus as Lord. Remember Isaiah's words about waiting?

Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary. - Isaiah 40:31

Even though the prophet's pen put these words on the sacred page centuries ago, that verse of Scripture is as pertinent and relevant as what you read in the paper this morning. More than this they are far more trustworthy and eternally more useful to you and me. From this verse we learn that four things happen when we wait.

First, we gain new strength. We may feel weak, even intimidated, when we turn to our Lord. While waiting, amazingly we exchange our weakness for His strength. Just know waiting is both required and imperative.

Second, we get a better perspective. It says we "will mount up with wings like eagles." Eagles can spot fish in a lake several miles away on a clear day. By soaring like eagles while waiting, we gain perspective on our situation. We gain God’s perspective – His line of sight.

Third, we store up extra energy. "We will run and not get tired." That is future tense and it means resting today means the ability to run without fatigue later. When we do encounter the thing we have been dreading, we will encounter it with new strength - extra energy is ours!

Fourth, we will deepen our determination to persevere. We "will walk and not become weary." The Lord whispers reassurance to us. Our spiritual and emotional backbones become like titanium! We begin to partake, take on His power and with His assurance for the task at hand justifiably feel  more invincible.

We'll gain new strength. We'll get a better perspective. We'll store up extra energy. We'll deepen our determination to persevere. All that happens when we . . . wait. Fight like a girl named Esther! Pray! Fast! Fellowship! Wait!

I remain…

InHISGrip,
  ~J~