Esther 08: God Gives Us Tools, We Do the Work

What if you held the key to your life's purpose right in your hands? Join us as we unpack Esther, Chapter 8, and uncover the profound lesson that "God Gives Us Tools, We Do the Work." We'll explore the transformative events following Haman’s downfall, where King Xerxes hands over Haman’s estate to Queen Esther and appoints Mordecai as its overseer. Through Queen Esther's courageous plea to reverse Haman's deadly decree, we see the necessity of human effort and ingenuity in fulfilling divine plans. This episode is a powerful reminder that while God provides us with resources and opportunities, it's up to us to act.

Step into a deeper reflection on God's purpose for your life as we ponder Esther 4:14 and the broader implications of divine calling. We challenge ourselves to stop questioning our circumstances and start seeking God's guidance through prayer, trusting in His faithfulness. By examining the tools God has placed in our hands, we can uncover direction and purpose even in the most unexpected situations. Join us as we prepare for the next chapter, Esther 9, and inspire one another to be faithful to God's calling, embracing the tools He has given us to do His work.

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Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Transcript

God Gives Tools, We Do Work

Speaker 1 0:00

Hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, esther, chapter 8, and today's title is God Gives Us Tools, we Do the Work. God gives us tools, we do the work. I think it's so important that we realize that God's got a plan for our life. God's going to give us the raw resources and things to do His work, but we've got to get to work and do the rest, and we're going to see how that works out in this amazing story as we're getting close to the end. But, as always, before we do that, before we do anything else, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Thank you so much for the people who have recently been subscribing to the YouTube channel and also suggesting it. We've well over surpassed 1,000. We're on the road to 2,000 subscribers and I'm so thankful for that. I'm also thankful for some different countries who are starting to tune in to our podcast.

Speaker 1 0:53

I want to say hello to everyone from South Africa who is starting to listen to the podcast. I have no idea what you think about my accent. Let me just go ahead and tell you on behalf of all other people who live in the United States. They don't all sound like me. Most people talk more slowly than I do and I have this weird sort of Southern accent, but not fully. So just in advance, I'm sorry, but it's so good to have all of you from South Africa. Thank you so much, and I want to encourage you as well to go to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook man. They release over there. This amazing group of people release blog entries every single day or devotional entries, soap entries every single day, and it's just wonderful. And the more we dig, the more we find, and we're so glad to have you as part of this community. Well, if you have your Bibles, want to open up with me to Esther, chapter eight.

Speaker 1 1:44

You know, one of the things that I am constantly having to remember as an adult, but I also have to remind my kids, is talent is one thing, but effort and work is what makes things work right. Like you can have all the tools, but there's an expectation that you've got to do the work. And I think about that in my own life, how there are so many things that I would like to do but I'm not willing to put the work in. You know what I mean. I have a friend of mine who is training right now to run an Ironman. That's one of those races where you have to run, you have to swim and you have to cycle. It sounds amazing. It really does. I know some of you are going. That sounds like death. I know, I think it sounds amazing, but I'm not willing to put the work in. Therefore, I'm not going to get to do the thing. Do you know that God works like that? So many times, God gives us opportunities, but we have to take the next step in order to experience those things. What we're going to see today is God is going to open the door for the Jewish nation to be able to take care of themselves, but they have a role to play in this, and I think there's a certain dignity to that that, instead of just sitting, you know, like some spoiled kid having everything handed to us, there's something about having some skin in the game and we take part in this as well. And I think, as we read this, we're gonna see the genius of what God is doing, because he gives us the tools and, if you remember, the overall theme of Esther is God uses a mess to make something beautiful. So let's watch how something beautiful is starting to emerge from this horrible mess that poor Queen Esther has found herself in. You ready? Esther 8, verse 1 says this Now that same day this is the same day that Haman was killed King Xerxes gave the property of Haman, who was the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther.

Speaker 1 3:34

Then Mordecai was brought before the king, for Esther had told the king how they were related. The king took off his royal signet ring, which he had taken back from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai, and Esther appointed Mordecai to be in charge of Haman's property. Then Esther went again before the king, falling down at his feet and begging him with tears to stop the evil plot devised by Haman to Agagite against the Jews. And again the king held out his golden scepter to Esther. So she rose and stood before him. Esther said and if I have found favor with him and if he thinks it is right, and if I am pleasing to him, let there be a decree that reverses the orders of Haman, son of Hamadethah, the Agagite, who ordered that the Jews throughout the king's provinces should be destroyed. How can I endure to see my people and my family slaughtered and destroyed?

Speaker 1 4:29

Then King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew. I have given Esther the property of Haman and he has been impaled on a pole because they tried to destroy the Jews or he did. So now go ahead and send a message to the Jews in the king's name, telling them whatever you want and seal it with the king's signet ring. But remember that whatever has already been written in the king's name and sealed with his signet ring can never be revoked. So if you notice, the problem they've got is it's already been said that on a particular day, all the surrounding neighbors are supposed to kill the Jews. If you have a Jew as a neighbor, you're supposed to kill him on this certain day. And what Xerxes is saying is that's been put into law, so it's got to happen now. My rule is law and you can't change it. So they've got to figure this out Now. They have been given the tools to do something, but they can't just simply take it away. They have to make something now. They can do something with it, right? So here we go, verse 9.

Speaker 1 5:28

So on June 25th, the king's secretaries were summoned and a decree was written, exactly as Mordecai dictated. It was sent to the Jews and to the highest officers, governors and all the nobles of the 27 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. The decree was written in the scripts and languages of all the peoples of the empire, including that of the Jews. The decree was written in the name of King Xerxes and sealed with the king's signet ring. Mordecai sent the dispatches by swift messengers who rode fast horses especially bred for the king's service. The king's decree gave the Jews in every city authority to unite to defend their lives, and they were allowed to kill, slaughter and annihilate anyone of any nationality or province who might attack them or their children and wives to take the property of their enemies. The day chosen for this event throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes was on March 7th of the next year. A copy of this decree was to be issued as law in every province and proclaimed to all the peoples, so that the Jews would be ready to take revenge on their enemies on the appointed day. So, urged on by the king's command, the messengers rode out swiftly on fast horses bred for the king's service, and that same decree was also proclaimed in the fortress of Susa. Then Mordecai left the king's presence wearing the royal robe of blue and white, the great crown of gold and an outer cloak of fine linen and purple, and the people of Susa celebrated the new decree and the Jews were filled with joy and gladness and were honored everywhere and in every province and city, wherever the king's.

Speaker 1 7:16

So that's hilarious, because they're like, hey, wait a minute, are you telling me that these Jewish people get to defend themselves? As a matter of fact, they can kill me if they want to. I'm a Jew. It's like, all of a sudden, these now are my friends, right, but what can we get out of this today? I think the main takeaway we can take from this story is describing how these people are in this horrible situation and, instead of God delivering them out of it, he gives them tools to make it through it. But they have to do the work. And, if you remember, the overall theme is God uses a mess to make something beautiful.

Speaker 1 8:05

And I wonder how many of us would say we're in a great season. Things are going well, everything is. You know baseball terms up and to the right. You know a home run. We're doing so great. Well, that's you. Praise the Lord. Thank goodness this ain't for you.

Speaker 1 8:19

I'm talking to people who would say you know what, pastor, so far life is not turning out the way I had planned. I'm going through a difficult season. There's been some for bad reasons, by bad people. That's happening to me, can I tell you. Sometimes God will completely remove you from that and he'll completely take you out of that. Sometimes he will give you the tools to actually grow in the middle of a desert. He'll give you the ability to do something amazing with something so messy. And that's exactly what God had done to the Jewish people. He gave them the tools to do something amazing in the middle of so messy. And that's exactly what God had done to the Jewish people. He gave them the tools to do something amazing in the middle of something messy. And can I tell you, in the moment we don't want that doing. We want God to just take us out of it. But you know, the greatest testimonies in my life personally are not when God delivered me out of something, but when God delivered me through something, because it was in the middle of that struggle that I saw just how powerful God is. That's what testimonies are.

Discovering God's Purpose in Your Life

Speaker 1 9:20

Testimonies are when you pass a time of testing, when you're going through a difficult situation and sometimes you have to get to the end of your strength before you can begin to see how good his strength is, when you're falling and all of a sudden you realize you can't fall any further because God is holding you with his hand. But we still have to do the work. So I want to encourage you today. If you're going through a difficult season, if you're going through a difficult time, god may be trying to give you the tools so that you can thrive where you've been planted. Trying to give you the tools so that you can thrive where you've been planted. But that doesn't mean you just sit and wait. There is a verse that says stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, but that verse is having done all you can to stand, so he's going to give you opportunity to do all you can do and then, when you get to the end of your strength, you're going to see his.

Speaker 1 10:09

So my question for you is not what would you like to do, but what has God put in your hand to do? What has he put in your hand to do? Maybe it's not what you would have wanted, but what's available, because you might be surprised that what God has given you is actually better than anything you could have imagined on your own. Let's pray together right now, god. Thank you so much, lord. You know what we need more than we do.

Speaker 1 10:39

So my prayer right now, God, is of course we want you to take us out of every difficult situation and make everything easy, make the highways low and the low areas high, and all of that Of course we do. But, god, we also trust you and we trust that you only guide what you can also provide. And so, lord, instead of us wondering why, let us start to look around and say what, what do you want us to do in this season, and to realize that you are more faithful than we can imagine. We celebrate you, god, and we trust you. Today, in Jesus' name, we pray Amen, amen. And what God's word says in Esther, chapter 4, verse 14, if you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place. But who knows, if perhaps you were made queen for such a time as this, god's got a plan for your life. There's a reason why you're alive right now. So let's get about doing it and being faithful to the Lord. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Esther, chapter 9.