That night the king had trouble sleeping, so he ordered an attendant to bring the book of the history of his reign so it could be read to him. In those records he discovered an account of how Mordecai had exposed the plot of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the eunuchs who guarded the door to the king’s private quarters. They had plotted to assassinate King Xerxes. “What reward or recognition did we ever give Mordecai for this?” the king asked. His attendants replied, “Nothing has been done for him.” – Esther 6:1-3
The late Tom Petty once sang about the frustrations of faithfully waiting for something special. The excitement and anticipation that comes with it; the great expectation of what we believe is to come.
But what happens when all hope seems lost? When we wait and we wait and we wait, only to come to the conclusion years down the road that it has been all for naught? That what we hoped for had slipped into the frustrating abyss of nothingness?
If Mordecai was alive today, I imagine him sitting at a quiet bar, just him and the barkeep. As he sips on his drink, Tom Petty starts playing on the jukebox.
Waiting is the hardest part
Everyday you get one more yard
You take it in faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part.
He immediately smiles as he hears the familiar lyrics; not familiar because he knows them, but because he has lived them. The bartender asks him, “Why the smile? Does this song remind you of a woman?” Mordecai laughs heartily before taking another sip. “Aah.. yes it does! But not in the way you think, my dear fellow!”
And then the yarn begins to be spun. “Pull up a chair and pour yourself a drink. And let me tell you a story about the faithfulness of God.”
And what a story it is! One of evil and heartbreak, of patience and obedience; God’s children, being held captive in a land far from home, serving a pagan king, and on the verge of being gathered up by the thousands and slaughtered.
But God’s plan was coming together perfectly. Everything that was happening was within His sovereign authority and control. And although it would take years for His plan to develop and be fulfilled, it surely would begin to unfold in His perfect timing.
A king has a sleepless night. That’s how it all begins. How profound is it that so much of God’s incredible work begins with the most ordinary, mundane circumstances?
The downfall of Goliath and the rise of a great king all began with a father telling his son, “David, take these cheese sandwiches and see to your brothers near the battlefield. They are surely hungry. They will be encouraged to see you. And report back to me how they’re doing.”
And now, another king hundreds of years later is having a sleepless night. And he calls to his servant, “Bring to me the written record of my kingship. Read to me about the great things I’ve done, so that I may fall asleep.”
Just as he’s about to doze off, his servant tells him of an incident that was recorded one evening, one in which a plot to assassinate him was thwarted by one of the captives named Mordecai (who had secretly adopted a young girl who unbeknown to King Xerxes was his very Queen Esther at that time).
“Oh, yes. I remember that now,” the king said. “What did we ever do for that man because his kindness?” His servant replied, “Nothing, your majesty. Nothing has been done for him.” Well, that was about to change. And the script of the way it would change could only be written by a God who is the Author and Creator of all things, great and small. There are no little details. Everything has meaning and purpose.
How cool is it that God used that moment in Mordecai’s life years earlier to bring about the fulfillment of his plans and purposes years later?!
Paul the apostle tells us in Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
We don’t know every detail of God’s plan for us. And because He is a God not bound by time nor space, it may take years before we can begin to see how He has caused everything to work together for the good of those of us who love and are called by Him. But there is evidence that He is working in our lives today.
So we remain obedient in the meantime. We wait patiently for His plan to come together. And although this is difficult for us, for we are bound by time and space, and His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are higher than our ways, says the prophet Isaiah (55:8-9), we are reminded in these treasured stories in the Old Testament that God is forever faithful.
In the midst of our suffering; in the midst of our loneliness and heartache, even in the midst of our waiting, God keeps His promises. He is working things out for our good.
Former Blackout Artist 