Uncontrollable Timing

Sometimes the favor of God will take you by surprise with timing that is completely out of your control. My church is in the process of building our first permanent facility. For years we prayed for God to open doors for the right piece of property. We looked at countless options and a few times we thought we found “the place” only to have it fall through. As our pastor lead us through this process, he prayed something that has stuck with me. He asked for God to work in a way that people would say, “only God did this.”

You see there is a key to God’s favor. It is all about people seeing God, not about them being impressed with us. Sometimes we get confused about this. We want an easy answer or the quick solution, but often God is putting together a sequence of events or a powerful moment that is far beyond anything we could ever orchestrate. Something that everyone involved, including us, will look at and say “only God” could do that.

That is exactly what happened for Esther. Remember when her cousin Mordecai challenged her to use her influence as queen to go before King Ahasuerus on behalf of her people? After three days of prayer and fasting, Esther boldly stepped out in faith and entered the presence of the king. Listen to how the Bible describes it, “When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight.” (Esther 5:2 NASB) The king put out his royal scepter preserving Esther’s life and allowed her to present a request. Esther simply asked for the king and Haman (the man responsible for the plight of the Jews) to join her for dinner.

That night the king and Haman came for dinner. When the king inquired about Esther’s petition, again she asked only for another dinner. At this dinner, she promised to share her request.

Now, this is where the story gets really interesting. Haman left the dinner feeling pretty good about himself, but on his way out he walked past Esther’s cousin Mordecai. It seems all the happy feelings from dinner fled, and Haman was full of anger. He controlled himself for the moment but went home and talked to his wife and friends. At their advice, Haman ordered for gallows to be built, gallows that he intended to hang his despised enemy Mordecai on.

Meanwhile, that same night King Ahasuerus could not sleep. Instead of just laying there all night, he had someone read to him from the book of records. Out of all the records that could have been read that night, the king heard an account of Mordecai uncovering a plot and saving his life. Realizing that no appreciation had ever been giving to Mordecai, King Ahasuerus began working on a plan to honor him.

At that very moment Haman entered the king’s palace with his own plan to ask if he could hang Mordecai on the gallows. Instead in an interesting twist of events, he ended up parading Mordecai through the streets of Persia proclaiming, “Thus it shall be done to the man who the king desires to honor.” (Esther 6:9) After this humiliating episode, Haman returned home with just enough time to prepare for Esther’s dinner. His wife and friends, always ready with advice, informed him that things were not looking good for the future.

At dinner, King Ahasuerus again asked Esther for her petition. This time, Esther shared everything – how her people were “to be destroyed, to be killed and to be annihilated.” (Esther 7:4) In shock, the king asked, who is the person who would presume to do such a thing? Esther pointed directly to Haman, revealing his treachery.

When Haman’s wickedness was revealed the very gallows he prepared for Mordecai was used to take his life. Meanwhile, Mordecai and Esther found continued favor with the king. They were allowed to write a new decree protecting their people. In fact, the Bible says, “it was turned to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained mastery over those who hated them.” (Esther 9:1)

Think about this series of events. Do you see how God was weaving everything together? What if Haman hadn’t seen Mordecai the night of Esther’s first dinner? What if the king had slept well? What if a different record book had been read? What if Mordecai had received his reward when his act of bravery first occurred? What if Haman hadn’t come to see the king right when he was planning to honor Mordecai? What if Esther had presented her request at the first dinner?

The events that occurred were far beyond anything Esther and Mordecai could orchestrate, but because they were faithful and obedient God worked in and through them. God used His favor to protect His people.

The favor of God will usually take things out of your control. Some days we will face difficult circumstances that we don’t understand. Sometimes it will seem like God is silent. And other times God will work in such a powerful way that people will look at your life and say “only God.”