If you scroll through Facebook, or browse through the newspaper or catch a glimpse of CNN you see that not only South Africa, but the whole world seems to be under tremendous subjugation at this moment in time. In South Africa alone, we see fires devouring our beloved Garden Route, drought shrouding the Western Cape, storms ravaging our suburbs and shores and endless reports of corruption, lies and deception between our government and the financial powers in our country.
These are disasters that are seriously impacting on the lives of our citizens, rich and poor, and every race in between. No-one is untouched by the devastation.
Yet God is still God.
And if God is for us, who can be against us.
It doesn’t mean that disaster will not come into our lives, but it does mean that God will be never leave us nor forsake us. In the face of danger or disaster, God will either turn us away from it, walk us around it or carry us through it, but never, never, never will He abandon us.
Wars, unrest, injustice and natural disasters have been going on since Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden.
In fact, if we are looking for dramatic stories where injustice abounds, we need look no further than the bible, which is the history of the very best and the very worst of mankind.
Yet through it all, God’s people always prevail.
And they don’t just come through …. They come through victorious.
The story of Esther is a perfect example!
Esther is a common (secretly Jewish) girl who is stunningly beautiful. When the King is looking for a new wife because his ‘Queen’ wife disrespected him, he searches all the land for a young virgin and finds Esther to be the most enticing.
She had been raised by Mordecai, her cousin, who was in the kings service and an outstanding, honorable worker. At this time, a man called Haman, also in the kings service was promoted to high office. The king ordered that all the officials were to bow before Haman but Mordecai refused to bow before anyone but God. This absolutely infuriated Haman and he decided to take revenge not only on Mordecai but on all the Jews in the whole Persian Empire. He persuaded the king to pass a decree that on a certain day, all the Jews be put to death.
Mordecai heard of the decree and sent word to Esther to plead with the king and beg him to have mercy on her people.
Esther feared her life but Mordecai encouraged her by saying that “Maybe it was for a time like this that she had been made Queen.” So she asked Mordecai to call a fast and have all the Jewish people in Susa to pray for her and she and her maids would fast for Mordecai.
Meanwhile Haman became incensed every time he walked past Mordecai because he did not honour or respect him by bowing before him.
So, he took his frustrations back home to his wife and friends who said that he should build a gallows and ask the king if he could have Mordecai hanged on it.
But things didn’t quite turn out for Haman as he had planned.
When the king heard the story from Esther and that Haman was the monstrous enemy of the Jews, he turned on Haman and ordered that he be hanged on the very gallows that he had had built for Mordecai.
An order written by the king and signed with his signet ring is however irrevocable so he could not undo Haman’s decree so for Esther and the Jewish people of Persia, he issued a counter decree that the Jews were allowed to arm and defend themselves against their enemies.
On the appointed day, God empowered all the Jewish people of Persia to have great victory over their enemies and not one Jew was harmed.
What a wonderfully victorious story for the people of God.
My very favorite verse in the book of Esther is 6:13 where Haman’s wife warns him off after the king makes Haman give special honor to Mordecai for showing extreme loyalty to the king by saving him from an assassination attempt.
Esther is 6:13
13 He told his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then she and those wise friends of his told him, “You are beginning to lose power to Mordecai. He is a Jew, and you cannot overcome him. He will certainly defeat you.”
Haman’s certainly was defeated in the worst possible way!
Because those who belong to God are under the protection of the Most High.
Psalm 91 assures us of this promise
God Our Protector
91 Whoever goes to the Lord for safety,
whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty,
2 can say to him,
“You are my defender and protector.
You are my God; in you I trust.”
3 He will keep you safe from all hidden dangers
and from all deadly diseases.
4 He will cover you with his wings;
you will be safe in his care;
his faithfulness will protect and defend you.
5 You need not fear any dangers at night
or sudden attacks during the day
6 or the plagues that strike in the dark
or the evils that kill in daylight.7 A thousand may fall dead beside you,
ten thousand all around you,
but you will not be harmed.
8 You will look and see
how the wicked are punished.9 You have made the Lord your[a] defender,
the Most High your protector,
10 and so no disaster will strike you,
no violence will come near your home.
11 God will put his angels in charge of you
to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you up with their hands
to keep you from hurting your feet on the stones.
13 You will trample down lions and snakes,
fierce lions and poisonous snakes.14 God says, “I will save those who love me
and will protect those who acknowledge me as Lord.
15 When they call to me, I will answer them;
when they are in trouble, I will be with them.
I will rescue them and honor them.
16 I will reward them with long life;
I will save them.”
Here is a song that was written and sung by a well renowned Christian rock band in the 80’s. It reminds us that we are going through nothing new. The world has been a very unhappy place for a very long time. But as children of God, we need not be anxious. We need not live in fear. We can live in peace amidst all the chaos.
Hearts are falling left and right
Children fear this planet’s plight
Fatalistic fears abound
And take their toll without a sound
But through the vague uncertainty
Comes a bold assurity
This world is under sovereignity
Divinely ordered destiny
He holds this world together
With the word of His power
Safe within His hands
‘Til its own appointed hour
He’s still got the whole world in His hands tonight
And only He knows where the sparrow lands tonight
And nothing in this world can stop His plans tonight
‘Cause He’s still got the whole world in His hands
In His hands tonight
Humanistic lies lament
The holocaust is imminent
Doomsday prophets in the news
Predicting who will light the fuse
The fate of His creation
Isn’t subject to a man
The final consummation
Is according to His plan
He’s still got you, He’s still got me
In His hands tonight