By Mark Grace, CCCNZ Ambassador
I taua po kihai i moe te kingi, a ka mea kia kawea mai te pukapuka whakamahara ki nga meatanga o nga ra. Na ka korerotia ki te aroaro o te kingi.
O lena lava po na le iloa ai e le tupu sina moe. Ona fai atu lea o le tupu e au mai le tusi e faamanatu a‘i tala i nofoaiga. Ona faitaulia ai lea i luma o le tupu.
That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him.
Esther 6:1
Look with me at chapter six of the book of Esther, verses one to five.
In verse one, it just so happens that the king could not sleep. It just so happens that he chooses the book of the chronicles.
In verse two, it just so happens that he finds what Mordecai did in saving his life.
In verse three, it just so happens that he asks what has been done for him.
In verse four, it just so happens that he asks who is in the court.
In verse five, it just so happens that Haman is in the court.
Last year, Zoe and I went to see Matilda at The Regent on Broadway in Palmerston North. What a wonderful show. On stage, the actors were amazing. But behind the stage, an army of people was working.
Without being seen they were moving props between the actors, pulling the curtain ropes, and moving the lighting rigs. What happened on the stage was really being shaped by what was happening backstage.
This backstage-front stage idea is an image of how God works in our lives. Everything that occurs in the stage of our life is organised by God’s providence, working backstage.
Timothy Keller describes God’s providence as his “wise, loving, and purposeful orchestration of all things”. Backstage, God is working in and through every situation to bring about good, especially for those who love him. (Romans 8:28).
The front stage is our working lives, our retirement years. Our school day. God’s backstage work interweaves our choices and actions with his own grand designs.
Backstage, God is always working with a commitment to the ultimate good of his people, shaping everything for his glory and our transformation even through hardship.
From a front-stage perspective, these verses in Esther are just about the king. But from a backstage perspective, they are all about God’s providence.
By God’s providence, the king couldn't sleep.
By God’s providence, he ordered the book of the chronicles.
By God’s providence, he found what Mordecai did in saving his life.
By God’s providence, he asked what had done been done for him.
By God’s providence, he asked who was in the court.
By God’s providence, Haman was in the court.
In every part of the Bible, even the parts where he isn’t mentioned, God is at work. More than that, he is the focus, the main actor, the end goal of every story and letter.
In our own lives, this is true. Though it might be easy to overlook at times, God is richly, deeply, carefully at work in every corner of our lives, bringing all things together for our good and his glory.
