First Blog

When I first began my relationship with Christ, I was encouraged by a friend to go through the book of Esther and note everywhere I saw God was present. 

Being a new Christian, I was understandably confused after reading through the first time. I could not find God’s name–not even once. When I questioned the validity of the task to my friend, he explained that this was the very point of the exercise–I needed to look closely in-between the lines to find His presence. After this revelation, I began to see Him all over the pages. I eventually understood the principle behind it all: God is ever-present, but there are times you have to look closely for Him. 

Sometimes, I feel the Holy Spirit tangibly or witness a miracle and see God plain as day. Then, there are other seasons in my life where I read the stories in the Bible and wonder why God isn’t just as present in my own life. It is in those very moments where the enemy will begin to plant seeds of lies: God isn’t here, He doesn’t care for me, or He has left me all alone. 

However, this contradicts everything God shows us in the story of Esther (and, frankly, everything that the Bible tells us about Him). The Jews during this time are disobeying God by staying in Persia instead of going back to the Promised Land. Even so, God still comes to save them (yes, God never leaves you–even if you’re stuck in sin and disobedience) from the evil schemes of Haman through Queen Esther. 

While God’s name or influence is not as obvious as a burning bush or the parting of the Red Sea, the fragrance of God overwhelms me as I read the story. 

This revelation has stuck with me since I was first tasked with finding God. I still have the Bible I used that day. It permanently holds the slightly smeared pencil-marked notes of where I found God in the text. It serves as a reminder that no matter what my eyes perceive, God is equally present in the times I easily see Him as He is in the moments that I am a child looking around desperately for my Father.

In reflecting upon the text this time around, God opened another dimension in which I am to use this story. As I continue to mature in my walk with Christ, I notice a shift in how I learn. At the beginning, I was taught the promises of God–His Truth–so I would be able to resist the lion seeking to devour me with lies. Now, I see how a season of practicality has begun. While I once needed to know that God is always present, now I am challenged by what to do with that truth in my day-to-day walk with Jesus. 

I was asked a question by God while reading this that I now ask you: How many times do you fail to acknowledge the hand of God in your life because you are too busy waiting for Him to show up according to your expectations? How many times do you stay stuck in your disappointment over seemingly ignored prayers, needs, and wants (yes, God cares about those too!) because you are too distracted looking for His name to be written all over it?

In James 1:17, it says that all good things come from God. Is it not time that we see the good things around us as the very answers to our prayers? The very need or want being answered? Is it not time that we stop waiting to be called into the inner court of the king (i.e. waiting for a billboard-sized sign from God) and to instead walk in prayer and fasting, knowing that the favor of God is upon His children? 

In this day and age, we must have confidence in both the position we have as Christians and in the truth that we have each been called for a time such as this (Esther 4:14). We must not always wait for the call (though there are times to do so, which comes with discernment); instead, we must go boldly into what God has called us to whether we easily see Him or not. In these times, especially, we have the privilege of faithfully holding onto the truth that He is with us no matter what. 

Today, I encourage you to closely look with your spiritual eyes. Be on the lookout for God in the mundane, in the not-so-obvious ways. A life that is in the world but not of the world must look to see the spiritual in the everyday. And when we look past the words on the pages of a book, in the midst of confusion and heartache, and beyond the circumstances that seem impossible for us, that is when we see a Father who is ever-present, who wants to make good for those who love Him [according to His will] (Romans 8:28), and who is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).

Our God is ever-present and nothing can stop Him–even when He is behind the scenes.