Esther Chapter 10 Seeing God in the Shadows
Esther 10 describes the greatness of Mordecai, how he was advanced to be second to King Ahasuerus, and how his success was written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia. Besides his successful ‘career’, he was well-received by his brethren too. Who wouldn’t want a successful career and a good reputation?
A person without faith reading this book might just see everything as a series of coincidences. It was only because Mordecai happen to overhear the eunuchs’ schemes; It was only because the king couldn’t sleep that night; It was only because…
To these people, life is a lottery. Some people win, a lucky few win big, while others lose.
But for us Christians, we know better. We know that God has always been present, working silently in the shadows. He is the one responsible for all these “coincidences”, carefully setting up the scene each time. All of this, just because our God is faithful to His people and is working for their good.
Mordecai’s success was entirely because of God.
When life goes smooth sailing, when we rise and tower to greater heights, have we left God behind in our shadows? Have we failed to see how God has time and time again helped and provided for us in the dark? Are our “thank God!”s mere acts of lip service, but in reality deep down inside, we still attribute our success to our hard work, connections, and circumstances?
Our Bible reading plan has brought us to the Book of Job during the weekends. We see that as time passed, Job began to struggle to see and understand God when he was in a dark phase in his life.
When life seems to fall apart, when we feel alone in the shadows, have we lost sight of God? In our hardships, do we struggle to see God’s good will toward us?
Job ultimately was reminded about God’s sovereignty. God knows what He is doing. In the end, Job proclaims, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.”
James 5:11 tells us that a key takeaway from Job’s story is that in the midst of all our sufferings, we ought to not lose sight of the end intended by our God (i.e., our salvation), and to see that our Lord is indeed very compassionate and merciful.
Today brings us to the end of the Book of Esther, which makes it a fitting time for us to reflect on some of the main teachings from this book. Many of us would know by now the oft-quoted fact that “God” is not mentioned at all. Yet, we know that God has always been there quietly working for the good of His own people.
Both Job and Esther teach us about seeing God in the shadows. In abundance or in poverty, in success or in failure, in joy or in sorrow, we should always remember the presence of God and have faith that He is there.
Seeing God in our successes keeps us from becoming carried away. We will continue prioritising the things of God rather than our own matters. There’s no sorrow in our success, as we wouldn’t fear losing what we have. We willingly submit and accept whatever God’s arrangement is for us, because we know that our lives are in His hands.
Seeing God in our hardships gives us the strength to endure till the very end. We learn to trust in His goodness, that God is in full control. We have faith that whatever we are going through is for our own good, that it is all out of our Heavenly Father’s love towards us.
God is always there, doing His best for us. He comforts us, guides us, and even trains us.
Have we seen our loving God quietly working in the shadows?
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.”
Psalm 139:7-10