God is not absent during His silence

 If you read the book of Esther in the Bible you will find the absence of God being mentioned, as He is, in all of the other books of the Bible other than, the Song of Solomon. The book of Esther is about those moments in the history of God's people and in the history of our lives where God does not seem anywhere to be found, and where God seems to be absent yet, He was not. The story of Esther is a precious reminder to all of God's people, that even when He appears to have abandoned them, He has not.

I learned years ago to never judge the quality of my faith by my excitement of a mountain top experience on a Sunday morning when I was surrounded by God's people in worship and reflecting on the truths of the gospel and being filled with joy.

But I learned to judge the nature of my faith in those moments when none of that existed and I was alone in a dark place, maybe a wilderness of sorts, and it seemed to me like the heavens were shut up and the promises of God no longer included me. When it seemed like God had walked away, and everyone else was prospering from His kindness and fellowship and I had somehow been left out. It appeared to me in those moments where God seemed most absent, and no longer actively working on my behalf.

However, I learned that as I confronted those negative thoughts and lies, taking them captive and remembering what God had told me in His word, He would never stop working in and for me until His work was completed in His plan for my life.

This is the theme throughout all the Old and New Testaments. God raises up unlikely situations and instruments like He did in the story of Esther. He raised this woman, whom He used to continue to protect and propel His plan for His people and His plan for the ages, His plan of redemption. God who seems absent to us at times is actually working to protect and preserve His story.

You should never conclude, because you can't see the hand of God, that God isn’t at work anymore then you should conclude that the sun isn't shining because it is nighttime, and you can't see it. These are the moments where we must do what Hebrews 11 tells us to do, “You must believe that God exists, and He rewards those who seek Him.” The story of how God raised Esther and used her in His redemptive plan confronts the deepest of our questions and gives us hope that, as we are yielding to Him daily, He is using our lives as well, even when we do not see or understand what is going on.

We do not have to see God at work to trust His word to be faithful and true for us. God is not absent during His silence in our lives. He is always behind the scenes, working on our behalf to complete the work He started. That is His promise to us according to Philippians 1:6, "being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Has He begun His work in your life today sweet friend? If not, ask Him to and mean it with all your heart!

Hold Fast,
-Bren