It can be hard to get our heads around just how many people there are in the world: over 8 billion people! In our home city of Hong Kong, with over 7 million inhabitants, packed in crowded streets and towering skyscrapers, it is easy for us to feel forgotten, lost, or even entirely unseen. On top of that, the Lord can seem distant and hidden, crowded out by the noise and chaos of everyday life.
Against that vast backdrop, our lives, and therefore our choices, can seem inconsequential. What difference do my daily choices and actions really make? Why bother choosing integrity when cutting corners goes unnoticed? Why pursue justice and compassion when it often comes at great personal cost? Should I not give in to temptation and live for self rather than others, choosing self-pleasure rather than holiness? It is easy to conclude that our small acts of righteousness simply do not matter. These decisions are often costly and put us at odds with the world around us. And so our hearts might raise that sinister question – what is the point in living a godly life? What difference does it even make? Sure, I believe in God, but does he really care about my little life?
God loves to make himself known in the world
As we begin a teaching series in the book of Esther, these sorts of questions are raised throughout the story. Famously, the book never explicitly mentions God. And yet his presence is unmistakable. Behind every moment, from a king’s insomnia to the casting of lots, God’s providence and sovereign control are seen, assuring us that even when God feels distant or hidden from our lives, there is hope in his ever-present rule. Every decision, great and small, whether the godly ones of Esther and Mordecai or the selfish ones of Haman, are seen by the Lord. He cares about how each person lives each day of their life.
Esther challenges the lie that we are unseen or that our choices make no difference. This book reveals the God that is not seen through our earthly eyes. God is always at work in and through the church to bring about his good purposes. Esther may have felt invisible, but the truth is that she was loved. The Lord may seem hidden, but the truth is that he is always present. We may feel forgotten and inconsequential, but there is hope in the God who calls us his children.
The Bible invites us to see beyond what our earthly eyes can see and to put our trust in the Lord of glory. In Christ and by the Spirit, God loves to make himself known in the world. May we be people of faith, remembering that, ‘From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us’ (Acts 17:26-27).
