When the Tables Are Turned

The Great Reversal: God Works Behind the Scenes

Esther chapter 9 shows us the culmination of an extraordinary story—one where God works behind the scenes on behalf of his people. Though his name is never mentioned in the book of Esther, his presence is felt on every page. Today, we look at how the Jewish people, facing certain destruction, experienced a remarkable reversal.

The Setup: A Plot to Destroy

Esther is a young Jewish woman who won a beauty contest, placing her as queen of the Persian Empire. Once in position, she discovers a terrible plot: an evil man named Haman hates all Jewish people and tricks the king into signing a royal decree that will set a date for their annihilation—mass murder.

Once signed, the future seemed settled. But Esther's uncle Mordecai sees an opportunity through her unexpected rise to power. He urges Queen Esther to tell the king what is happening—though this is incredibly risky. In those days, no one could approach the king without permission. To enter his chamber uninvited meant death, unless he extended the golden scepter as a sign of permission.

Esther goes in trembling, her knees knocking and hands shaking. Yet when the king sees her, he extends the golden scepter. She gains his favor, and eventually tells him everything. His heart breaks, and he calls for Haman's execution.

The Problem: A Decree That Cannot Be Revoked

You might think this ends the story. But there is one very large problem: under Persian law, a royal decree could not be revoked. The date for the attack on the Jews was already fixed on the calendar.

All the king can do is sign a second decree, giving the Jews the legal right to bear arms, assemble an army, and defend themselves. And that is what Esther chapter 9 describes.

"The king's command and law went into effect on the 13th day of the 12th month, the month Adar. On the day when the Jews' enemies had hoped to overpower them, just the opposite happened. The Jews overpowered those who hated them." — Esther 9:1

Notice the phrase: "just the opposite happened."

For many months, God's people knew the day was coming. Like Jews in concentration camps in the 1940s, they were certain they would all die. Every single day they felt death approaching. But just the opposite happens. God rescues his people from disaster.

God Specializes in Reversals

Throughout Scripture—both Old Testament and New Testament—God specializes in reversals and comebacks:

• He parts the waters for those who are trapped
• He topples giants for those who are intimidated
• He raises the dead for those who fear the grave

Here in Esther, he turns a day of destruction into a day of deliverance. This book was written and preserved so that we might read it and examine our own lives, asking: Where am I expecting God to bring a great reversal? Where am I believing that what is currently true will not be true forever?

We are called to pray for miracles, expect miracles, and believe in miracles.

Perhaps you walked in today feeling defeated in some area of your life. Your confidence in God is at an all-time low. Or you find yourself catastrophizing at night, imagining worst-case scenarios as if God will never show up. If this is you, I want you to see three principles from Esther chapter 9 about what to do when you feel down and out.

Principle One: Don't Assume Today's Circumstances Are Your Final Outcome

Look at Esther 9:2—

"In each of the king's provinces, the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who intended to harm them. Not a single person could withstand them, and fear of them fell on every nationality."

The Jews were saved not because of brilliant military strategy or some Braveheart figure riding over the hill. The text simply says: fear of the Jews fell on every nationality. God changed the way people saw them. He worked in ways that could not be invented or seen by man.

This happened because of the presence and power of God's Spirit—the same Spirit that lives within us as believers today. The same Spirit that can change a room, a marriage, a relationship, a church, a country.

The Power of Pentecost

Think about the first disciples before and after the resurrection. After Jesus rose, he told them to wait. "Wait for power from on high," he said. "Wait for the Spirit. Wait for heaven's help." They obeyed and stayed in prayer until Pentecost arrived.

On that majestic day, the Holy Spirit filled them and changed the atmosphere. Those people became suddenly powerful—not because they went to seminary, but because God took flawed, scrawny people and turned them into bold proclaimers of truth.

"When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak the word of God boldly." — Acts 4:31

Boldly—not cleverly, not persuasively, not strategically. Boldly.

Peter, who had proven himself a coward, became the rock Jesus said he would be. The entire motley crew of ordinary men, through the invasion of the Spirit in their lives, became better people. And you must believe that when you think about your future and all the trials ahead, by the time you get there, you will have been made stronger. The work of the Holy Spirit is ongoing—it strengthens and emboldens us for the trials we will face.

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Purpose

Robert Coleman's The Master's Plan for Evangelism describes how Jesus changed the world by pouring himself into just a few people. Coleman writes:

"By any standard of sophisticated culture then and now, they would surely be considered a rather ragged collection of souls. One might wonder how Jesus could ever use them. They were impulsive, temperamental, easily offended, and had all the prejudices of their environment. In short, these men selected by the Lord to be his assistants represented an average cross-section of society in their day."

Impulsive, temperamental, easily offended—I can be all those things in a single day, can't you? I have made snap decisions carelessly. I can be temperamental and grumpy for no reason. I can be easily offended and stew on it. But my story is one of great reversal. Your story is one of great reversal.

God can take ordinary people and turn them into bold witnesses. Never stop believing in the power of the Holy Spirit to be active in your life. Even hundreds of years before Jesus appeared, God was proving through Esther that he works behind the scenes, raising up average people for strategic purposes.

Do you feel outnumbered today? Discouraged? Like the odds are stacked against you? God specializes in comeback stories.

One of the greatest comebacks in basketball history happened when the Knicks were down 29 points to the Spurs at halftime. The crowd was stunned. But in the third quarter, something shifted. The Spurs played loose; the Knicks leaned in. The electricity returned. Suddenly, the Spurs were afraid. The whole thing flipped, and New York won.

That's the story of how we're called to live as Christians. Don't count yourself out. Don't give up. Something could happen in your prodigal son's life causing him to return.

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him." — 1 Corinthians 2:9

Don't count God out in what he's planning to do in the future. Live by faith, not by sight.

Principle Two: Don't Mistake God's Patience for God's Absence

When the war is over in Esther's story, an issue remains: Haman's sons are still living. They are bloodthirsty for revenge—like terrorists today. No Jewish person could feel safe while they lived.

Esther makes another bold request:

"Esther answered, 'If it pleases the king, may the Jews who are in Susa also have tomorrow to carry out today's law, and may the bodies of Haman's 10 sons be hung on the gallows.'" — Esther 9:13

The king gives the order. The bodies are hung, and on that day, finally, the fears end. The war is finally over. It was like the end of World War II—Jews finally felt some safety.

But think about what it must have been like for the months leading up to this moment. God's people wondered why God wasn't concerned about their fate. Why had he allowed this in the first place? Their prayers were hitting the ceiling, and yet all along—though they didn't know it—God was working behind the scenes. What appeared to be silence was not his absence.

When God Takes the Phone Off the Hook

Back in the 1980s, there were no cell phones. Every house had a phone with a cord. To take a nap, you took the phone off the hook. When someone called, they got a busy signal instead of a voicemail—that familiar sound: beep beep beep.

If you live long enough, there will come a season where it feels like God has simply taken the phone off the hook. When that happens, know that it is a test—and we must pass it. Will you trust him when he doesn't give you immediately what you ask for?

Harder still: what you're asking for will be a good thing. Every morning you rise with the same request:

• Lord, heal her
• Lord, change him
• Lord, provide the money
• Lord, open a door

You're not begging for a bass boat or a winning lottery ticket. You're asking for something good. And you wonder: God, why are you not listening?

All you hear from heaven is the busy signal.

A Personal Story

When my wife Laney and I accepted the call to Bellevue, we put our house up for sale in Nashville. We felt certain God had called us to Memphis and would provide a fast buyer. It was a great house in a great neighborhood. Every day we prayed: "Lord, just sell that house so we can fully focus here in Memphis."

Other people joined us in prayer. We trusted. We waited.

One month passed—no offers. Another month—no offers. The holidays arrived, and showings stopped. When they picked up in the new year, the ice storm of the century came through. Trees snapped. Neighborhoods looked like war zones. The market stalled again.

Every day: "Lord, bring a buyer." All we got was the busy signal.

Eventually, it happened. Late one night, our agent texted that a solid offer had come in. Laney woke me up. We stayed awake all night celebrating. At 2 a.m., she started painting cabinets. I wrote a sermon—the best one I'd written all year.

Now, that's not a life-or-death story. Praying for a house to sell is nothing compared to praying for a loved one in the ICU or facing a cancer diagnosis. But that season was such a reminder to me: How fast my faith falls when I don't get immediately what I want. How quickly I doubt God's goodness when he doesn't respond immediately to prayer.

What I often mistake as God's absence is really just God's patience.

Perhaps that's you today. You've been throwing a certain request at God for months, maybe years, and it shows no signs of answering. The Bible urges us to keep the faith for as long as it takes.

Look at Isaiah 43:2—

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, and the flame will not burn you."

God doesn't say you'll never face waters or fire. He says: "I will be with you." Be patient.

This leads us to the final point.

Principle Three: Don't Forget What God Has Already Done

When the war is over, Mordecai wants to memorialize the day. A national Jewish holiday is declared—Purim—which Jews still celebrate today, more than 2,400 years later.

The holiday's name comes from the word pur, meaning "lot"—because in Esther 3, Haman cast lots to decide which day the Jewish people would be destroyed. So the name Purim is a perpetual reminder of his failure. He could not get rid of them because God was on their side.

How Purim Is Celebrated

At Purim, the book of Esther is read aloud. Whenever Haman's name is spoken, children and adults boo, hiss, and use special noise makers that drown out his name. It's a protest—even today—against what he tried to do back then.

There are also costumes (it's sometimes called the "Jewish Halloween"), special gifts of food dropped off at neighbors' houses, and generous offerings to the poor. All of this celebrates God's faithfulness.

The Principle for Us

As New Testament Christians, we don't celebrate Purim, but we shouldn't miss the principle: The Jewish people stopped to remember and not forget how God came through for them.

Part of being a Christian as we grow older is continuing to tell people the stories of moments when God came through for you.

• How many prayers has God answered that you no longer remember?
• How many crises has he carried you through that you rarely think about?
• How many times has he provided, protected, healed, guided, or sustained you?

Don't forget what God has done for you.

There's an old hymn that says:

Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God has done. Count your many blessings, see what God has done.

It's good for the soul.

Answering Hard Questions

Is It Wrong to Keep Asking God for the Same Thing?

It depends largely on what God has already said to you. The Apostle Paul had a "thorn in his flesh"—some kind of burden that caused him great pain. He pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away:

"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness." — 2 Corinthians 12

God was saying: "No, Paul. The thorn stays. What I'm doing through your weakness is more important than through your comfort." Once God made that clear, Paul's posture shifted from arguing to accepting.

But there's another side. Jesus told the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18) who kept coming to a judge with the same request over and over. She wouldn't quit. Jesus ends the story:

"Will not God grant justice to his children who cry out to him day and night?" — Luke 18:7

The balance: If God has clearly said no, trust his wisdom. If he hasn't spoken, keep praying.

What About Those Whose Prayers Go Unanswered?

A skeptic once asked me: "What do you say to somebody who prayed for a breakthrough and never got one? Why does God give to one but not the other?"

There are no easy answers. Jennifer Rothschild, who lost her sight in high school, wrote a book called God is Just Not Fair. She wrestled with God because of her blindness, which forced her to rely on him and accept it as part of his design. But when she learned that another blind woman, Marilyn, had been miraculously healed, she said:

"Facing the hard reality that God had healed Marilyn Ford's eyes and not mine exposed such tender wounds and conflicting feelings toward him. It was so hard to admit that I loved God but was disappointed in his ways."

Nobody lives long without facing the unfairness of the world. The writer of Ecclesiastes says: "The race is not to the swift." Bad people sometimes win. Lesser talented people sometimes get the look.

So what do we do with this? Hold on to this one truth: One day you and I are going to stand before the Lord, and there's only one thing we want to hear him say:

"Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Between here and there, as Caleb said, it's a long journey home. There will be ups and downs. Times when you're delighted in God's ways and times when you're disappointed.

The question is: Will you get to the end with your faith still in hand?

I try to think of discouragement like an invitation to a party. Every single day I'm tempted to get discouraged. But when invited to a party, you RSVP—you say yes or you decline. When the devil tries to discourage me, I stop and say: "I'm going to decline the invitation. I reject the idea that God is through with this. He's going to come through. I'm going to keep believing."

This is what it means to walk by faith and not by sight.

How Can I Develop Courage Like Esther?

Most people think courage is something you're born with. But courage doesn't work that way. Building spiritual strength is like building physical strength.

Many of you have run the St. Jude marathon. You know you don't just show up on race day and run 26.2 miles. You build up mileage: one mile, then two, then three. The secret isn't a heroic run—it's consistency. Over time, your body's capacity grows with the size of the challenge.

The same is true spiritually: the size of our courage grows with the size of the challenge.

When David stood before Goliath, he wasn't trembling like everyone else. Why? Because Goliath wasn't the first big monster he'd faced. David told Saul:

"Your servant has been tending his father's sheep. Whenever a lion or bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, I went after it. I struck it down and rescued the lamb from its mouth."

David's courage didn't start with Goliath—it started with a lion. Long before facing a giant, he faced smaller opponents. God had been training him to be courageous.

You don't become courageous by waiting for it to show up. You become courageous by obeying God in small moments until you reach bigger moments.

A few weeks ago, I was getting gas when a stranger approached me. He asked: "Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior?" I said yes, and he replied: "Well, he told us to tell people," then walked away.

I sat there thinking: When is the last time I had that kind of courage? To introduce Jesus into a conversation? To step out spiritually with people?

That's how courage grows—one little step of obedience at a time.

If you're young and hope that God would use your life magnificently, you have to start building courage every single day. Every time the Holy Spirit says, "I want you to do that. Step out there," you say yes. And every little growth meets the size of the challenge.

Courage grows through small courageous steps.