Now there is a Jew in Susa the citadel, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjamite who had been carried away from Jerusalem among the captives carried away with Jeconiah, King of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, had carried away.
– Esther 2:5–6
Wow, what a quick summary of deep hurt. This is Mordecai’s introduction, one of the many people whose lives were affected by the Babylonian takeover in Jerusalem, but affected actually doesn’t seem like the best word. Turned upside down through suffering. This was such a hard time. God’s people invaded by a foreign army, taken as refugees to a foreign land, split up and feeling like slaves in that foreign land, and Mordecai was one of the captives carried away. You can only imagine how hard, how challenging, how deep that suffering was, those days were.
Esther 2:5–6 teaches us that that God will not waste our suffering.
But now here in the book of Esther we’re beginning to see how God was working even in that to bring Mordecai to this place where Mordecai is going to play a prominent role in the salvation of God’s people, in the preservation of God’s people, and ultimately the return of God’s people to the promised land.
But Mordecai didn’t know any of that when he was walking through that suffering, and I just want to encourage you today, particularly if you are walking through hard days, or when you think about hard days in the past or in the future in your life, trust that God is working, and not just working, but that God will not waste this suffering that you’re walking through, tragedies that you face, that God is a redeemer, that God takes that which the adversary intends for evil, and he turns it for good. God turns tragedies into triumphs. God turns stories of hurt and pain into stories of beauty and glory.
That’s what the book of Esther is about to unfold, and that’s what I want to encourage you with today. Hold fast when you don’t see why this is happening or where this is going. Hold fast to faith in God, knowing the one you are trusting in is worthy of your trust as a Redeemer and a Healer and a Miracle Worker, and he is not only able, but he promises for all who trust in him to turn tragedies ultimately into triumphs, to turn hurt and pain into beauty and glory.
Esther 2:5–6 reminds us that God is ultimately working for our good.
Oh God, we trust in you. We trust in you and we praise you for the gospel. We praise you, Jesus, that you are the epitome of this reality, that in the darkest day in history, your death on the cross, three days later it was turned into the most miraculous event in all of history, your resurrection from the dead. That death is not the end of the story for you or for all who trust in you, that sorrow and pain and suffering are not, will not, be the end of the story for all who trust in you.
We praise you, looking back at all you were doing, even in Mordecai’s suffering and in the suffering of your people as they were taken into exile, and how you were working ultimately for their good, and we trust that in our lives today and our lives in the past and in our lives in the future, no matter what comes in the days ahead, that you are trustworthy, that you are a redeemer, and that one day all of these things will have passed away and the new will have come, and you will wipe every tear from our eyes and we will be with you forever in full redemption and restoration.
Oh Lord Jesus, come quickly. We praise you. For the hope we have in you and God, we pray. For people who don’t have that hope in you… God, we pray that today specifically you would help us by the power of your spirit… To share hope with others around us… To encourage other followers of Jesus’ brothers and sisters in Christ with hope, especially as they’re walking through hard times.
Prayer for the Meo People
But God, also for those who don’t have hope in Jesus, help us to share the gospel with somebody today. And God we pray for the Meo people of India. 300,000 of these men, women and children who are followers of hundreds of millions of false gods and Hinduism. God, we pray that they would hear of the one true God… That they would hear of Jesus and the hope that’s bound in you, and that they would trust in you. We pray for the spread of your salvation to the Meo people of India.
Oh God, bring about your redemption among them and all the nations… Even as we trust in your redemption in our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray, according to Esther 2:5–6.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
