View Site Map

Secret Service from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

Today, I would like to discuss God's timing. Too many of us read the Scriptures and feel that God is outdated or out of touch with modern times when nothing could be further from the truth. He invented time. He created the Sun that the Earth orbits. Sometimes, we can feel that He is distant and unconcerned with the events of our lives. Part of this is because we cannot see what is happening behind the scenes.

What I want to stress is that God is never late, nor is He early. His plans come together right on time, often at the eleventh hour when we are crying on the floor. While He is lining things up in the spiritual realm, they remain invisible to us. We often do not even know what He is preparing us for or why we are in a specific place for a season. We can't see what's happening, so we begin to worry and feel anxious. We can feel like nothing is happening. I'm so alone...

Consider a General commanding an army; they don't take the time to explain every decision to the privates in the trenches. They rely on the chain of command, and soldiers are given the information needed to complete their tasks. We are mostly privates in God's army, and angels appear here and there who know more than we do. We have all the necessary information for today. God knows about tomorrow. We get into trouble when we start asking why and worrying about what's to come.

Think of the book of Esther. It is written about a young Jewish girl named Hadassah, which means "Myrtle Tree." She was raised by her cousin, Mordecai, after her parents passed away. She adopted the Persian name of Esther to conceal her true identity, which the Hebrews interpret as "hidden or concealed."

Esther was beautiful, and when the king of Persia began searching for a new queen, she was chosen to participate in a year-long makeover with oils and perfumes before being presented to the king as a candidate. It was an extravagant beauty contest featuring the most beautiful girls from across the land. They were presented to the king one by one, and in the end, he chose Esther as his favorite and crowned her as the new queen.

At the same time, there was a lifelong enemy of the Jews named Haman in the palace that had been rising through the ranks. He is called an Agagite, meaning that he probably descended from King Agag, the arch-enemy of King Saul. Mordecai and Esther were descended from Saul's tribe of Benjamin, possibly even from Saul's father, Kish. There was a long-standing feud between these families, as both attempted to wipe out the other (1 Samuel 15:8).

Over time, Haman worked his way up to become the Persian king's second-in-command. When Mordecai the Jew refused to bow to him one day, he convinced the king to have all the Jews killed in one day and their properties looted. It is pretty amazing to read that a government would pass such a law. Scripture records the decree in Esther chapter 3:

(Esther 3:12-14 NKJV) ..In the name of King Ahasuerus it was written, and sealed with the king's signet ring. And the letters were sent by couriers into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions. A copy of the document was to be issued as law in every province, being published for all people, that they should be ready for that day.

To the Jewish people, this new law looked horrific. The king had it written in his name and sealed it with his signet ring. It became enforceable in every province, and it could not be reversed. Mordecai called for Queen Esther to intervene, and at first, she was afraid to get involved. She had hidden her identity, and the palace did not know that she was one of the Jews they were about to annihilate. Her cousin Mordecai sent her a message in Esther chapter 4:

(Esther 4:13-14 NKJV) 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?"

Esther agreed to fast for three days without food or water and then to try to see the king. She said, "If I perish, I perish," for entering the king's presence without being summoned was a death sentence unless he chose to spare you by holding out his scepter. So Esther fasted and then went into the king's courtyard, and he spared her life. She invited the king and Haman to a banquet she prepared for them. There, she told the king that she was Jewish and her people were about to be destroyed "by this vile Haman."

(Esther 7:1-3 NKJV) So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. And on the second day, at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, "What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!" Then Queen Esther answered and said, "If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request.

(Esther 7:4-6 NKJV) For we have been sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king's loss." So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, "Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?" And Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!" So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.

Well, needless to say, it did not go well for Haman's political career after that. He had no idea that his plot included killing and looting the new Queen. Things fell apart pretty quickly:

(Esther 7:7-8 NKJV) Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, "Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?" As the word left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.

(Esther 7:9-10 NKJV) Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, "Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king's behalf, is standing at the house of Haman." Then the king said, "Hang him on it!" So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath subsided.

Haman and his sons were hanged. Mordecai got his job. Esther got his house and property. The Jews were spared. The time became a Jewish festival celebrated in the spring called Purim.

These events occurred over approximately a ten-year period. Evil against the Jews was growing in the palace, but God had already been moving things into place to counter it. Esther was born and put into place by God before there was a plot, and she did not even know the part she was going to play.

You don't surprise God. When a Goliath rises, God has already prepared a David to face them. When Haman rises, God already has an Esther in place. We cannot see what He is doing in the spiritual realm behind the scenes. Neither could satan, or he would have never allowed them to crucify Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:8).

God is never late. He is never early. He is right on time. Just like Esther, we are placed in positions for such a time as this.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank You for all that You are doing, for there are so many things that I cannot see. I put my trust in You today. I know that You can see the end from the beginning and that nothing catches You by surprise. Please guide me and help me be a part of what You are doing today. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.