Destined for Victory

Paul Sheppard: When you are a child of God, the favor that is ordained for your life does not come from men. You’re going to have to get this straight. Ask God to give you this revelation. The favor God has ordained for your life is not coming from men. It’s coming through men, but it’s coming from God.

Guest (Male): Your friends may be able to do you a favor, but only God can give you favor. Hello and welcome to Destined for Victory, featuring Pastor Paul Sheppard. Well, if your life seems a bit uncertain, you’ve got plenty of company. Look no further than the pages of Old Testament history to find story after story of God’s people going through tough times and God’s power leading them through those times.

Today we take you to the life of Esther, a story that helps us understand how even a series of bad breaks can lead to a breakthrough. Remember, you can always visit pastorpaul.net to hear any recent Destined for Victory message on demand, including today’s. That’s pastorpaul.net. Now, let’s listen closely to Pastor Paul’s Destined for Victory message, The Favor Factor.

Paul Sheppard: Esther 2, verses 16 through 18, where you’ll find these words: She was taken, meaning Esther, she was taken to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the 10th month, the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins.

He set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. And the king gave a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his nobles and officials. He proclaimed a holiday throughout the provinces and distributed gifts with royal liberality. Now, as we established last week, this book, the book of Esther, is a book where you will not find the name of God from the first verse to the last.

It is not there in any translation. No mention, no reference to the name of God. But don’t be deceived. Although you won’t find His name, you will find His fingerprints all over the book and all over the life of Esther and the people of God, the Old Testament nation of Israel, during this particular period of time.

Hundreds of years before the coming of Christ, God was at work through what we call redemptive history, preparing the way to bring the Messiah into the world to save us, both Jew and Gentile, from our sins. And God was at work. So I entitled this, Even When You Don't See Him, He's There. He's there in this book, and He’s there in your life and in mine.

You go through seasons where it may not be obvious or conspicuous that God is present and active. You go through seasons where you say, "Where is God? What is He doing? I don’t see evidence of things going on." You’re just not looking closely enough because even when it’s not obvious, God is at work. Because we’re His people. He has begun a good work in us, and He will bring it to completion.

And so God is there, even when you don’t see Him. Now we saw that Esther is a Jewish young woman. She and the other Jews are living in this kingdom of Persia. They’ve been there. They’ve been there historically when it was known as Babylon. They were there first under oppression. When you look in the scriptures, you realize there was a period of time when they were carried off into exile into the land of Babylon.

But God said, "I’m going to have you there for some period of time, but afterwards I’m going to bring you back to your homeland." And many of God’s people, after the exile was over, they just decided to stay in Persia, in this pagan place where the name of God is not mentioned, where He is not reverenced.

Sometimes we as God’s people can find ourselves living outside of God’s best for our lives. But even when you are, the Lord isn’t finished with you, and He’s going to work to bring about His plan and His purpose. And so that’s what’s happening. They’re living in Persia. They really shouldn’t be there, but they settled for the past few generations into that area.

And God still has them in His heart and on His mind, and He is at work. Now, there is some persecution that’s going to break out. We’ll get to that next week and begin to see the stage set for persecution. But you’ve got to know something: God knows what’s down the road in your life, and He is preparing now for what you’re going to have to face later.

That’s why we’ve got to walk by faith and not by sight. God knows what you’re being set up for, both from the standpoint of what the enemy’s trying to do, but more importantly, He knows what He’s going to do about the things that are going to come against you. And this is a setup. God has decided that "I am going to bring to the very throne of this pagan nation a Jewish young woman named Esther."

And so we saw last week that the king got mad at his wife Vashti, and she embarrassed him by saying, "I’m not coming to you and your raggedy banquet, you and your drunken friends," and what have you. And so she got mad. She said, "I’m not coming," and the king got mad. His boys around him said, "Man, you’ve got to handle that. You’ve got to do something. You can’t let her just reject you. You’re the king."

And so he dethroned his own wife. Told her, "I never want to see your face again." Dethroned his own wife. But look at what’s happening now. God is bringing to that throne a young Jewish woman. Now, the king doesn’t know yet that she’s a Jewish woman because God doesn’t want him to know it yet. And so He is keeping that fact hidden from the king.

Look at what we just read. She has found favor. She won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. We saw last week that this was like America’s Next Top Model. A whole bunch of folk came before the king. But when he saw Esther, she gained his favor. Now, here’s what I want to tell you today, and here’s what I want to talk about.

I want to talk about this business of divine favor because we’ve got to understand something. When you are a child of God, the favor that is ordained for your life does not come from men. You’re going to have to get this straight. Ask God to give you this revelation. The favor God has ordained for your life is not coming from men. It’s coming through men, but it’s coming from God.

Oh, this is going to bless somebody today. You can expect favor through people. But although it’s through people, it’s not from people. It is from the Lord. Now, this would indicate, if you just read this casually and carnally, you’d say, "Oh wow, she was so pretty that the king, of all the pretty young virgins that came before him, she was the prettiest. And so he just said, 'That’s the one I want.'"

That’s the way it looks on the surface, but you’ve got to understand God is at work here. God said, "I’m going to bring her to the throne, and so I will make her more attractive to this man than the other women." It is the work of God. God even used her beauty. God can use anything about your life. He can use your expertise.

He can use your profession, your vocation. God can use anything. Why? Because we are His people. We’re the sheep of His pasture. We belong to Him lock, stock, and barrel. Everything about you belongs to the Lord. Everything you are, everything you’re not, God is in control of. That’s why you shouldn’t envy folk who have gifts you don’t have.

If you don’t have them, it’s because you don’t need them to accomplish His purpose. God knew what He wanted out of you when He brought you to the planet. Stop trying to be somebody else. You don’t have the grace to be them. You don’t have the gifts to be them. You don’t have what it takes to be them. And if you knew them, you wouldn’t want to be them.

Come on, somebody. You’re busy envying folk; that’s because you don’t know them. You envy out of ignorance. A whole lot of people say, "Oh, I would love to be a pastor. I would just love to be able to spend my whole life just helping people and ministering to people. I would just love to be a pastor." That’s because you’ve never been one.

You need to talk to a few pastors before you say something like that. Because on the front lines, you get shot at first. The enemy has strategies against you. He has tactics against you. And that’s true for everybody in every area of your life. You have the grace to be you. You’re not all called to vocational ministry.

Some people are called to the business world. Some people are called to the world of politics and government. Some people are called to education. Some people are called to be in corporate America. You have a calling that suits you. Live in your calling. But as you do, know that God is at work. Because you’re not just an employee where you are.

You are God’s servant there. See, you represent God everywhere you go. If you teach, you’re God’s teacher. If you’re blue-collar, you’re God’s blue-collar worker. If you’re a manager, an executive, you’re God’s CEO. You work for the Lord. If you’re in government, you don’t represent just the people; you represent God.

So you’ve got to understand your calling comes from heaven. And God is going to bless your life. And one of the ways that God works in our lives to prepare us for what He has in mind is He gives us the appropriate favor for what He wants to do through us. But don’t give people the credit for that favor.

Don’t say, "You know, I got the hook-up from this particular person." No, you got it through them. You didn’t get it from them. You can respect and appreciate them for being the vessel God used. I’m not saying disrespect people when they give you favor, but know that it’s coming through them, but it’s coming from God.

So when you get through thanking them, when you walk out of their office, you say, "Hallelujah! Thank you, Lord!" Because that was Your doing. They think they did it, but they just don’t know. It was a God thing.

Guest (Male): Please don’t go away. We have more of today’s Destined for Victory message coming up next. But we want to thank all of you who support Destined for Victory with your prayers and financial support. These are gifts that help us keep this media ministry going.

If you’d like to join us in our mission to preach timeless truth for a victorious life, please consider making a safe and secure donation at our website, pastorpaul.net, or give us a call at 855-339-5500. I’ll repeat that number: 855-339-5500. And now, for more from the life of Esther, let’s get you to the second half of today’s message, The Favor Factor.

Paul Sheppard: It’s a God thing that a Jewish young woman is now the queen of this pagan nation. It’s a God thing. These people have a history of being persecuted in that very kingdom. She has risen from a historical background of persecution to now being the queen. Why? Because when God decides He’s going to set you up, nobody can bring you down.

When God has a plan for you, there’s no one who can stand against Him. And this is nothing new. Because when you look at redemptive history, this is just one of many instances in scripture where we see God giving unusual, uncanny, incredible favor to one of His children so that His purpose may be fulfilled in their life.

If I gave you time, we could call out any number of examples from redemptive history where somebody got a blessing they had no business having in the natural sense. Think about people like Joseph. How do you end up being the Prime Minister of a country and you’re not even a natural citizen of that country? How do you do it? Because God set him there.

How does Ruth, who is not even an Israelite? She is a Moabitess. She is a woman from a pagan nation. Comes to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law Naomi. And although Naomi is known and respected—she’s an Israelite there—their husbands are dead, they have no access to the property unless a kinsman-redeemer comes and blesses Naomi by buying in effect and taking over her husband’s inheritance.

But Ruth, who has come with her, is not a woman of Israel, and she is subject to persecution were it not for the favor of God. And God blessed her to not just not be persecuted. God blessed her to end up marrying the kinsman-redeemer. And Ruth and Boaz ended up playing a pivotal role in getting Jesus Christ to this world.

A woman who wasn’t even of Israel ended up playing a role getting Jesus here, who came to save both Jew and Gentile. How do you go from Moab to being the ancestor of Jesus? It’s because of divine favor. Divine favor. I’m trying to tell you that when God’s at work in your life, there are some things He has to bring you to so that He can use you the way He wants, and it’s going to require favor.

And we as people of God have got to stop acting like, thinking like, talking like, behaving like the world. We are not of the world. You’ve got to stop, hat-in-hand, going around trying to find somebody to help you. Spend more time in the presence of God saying, "Lord, whatever You want for my life, my heart says amen to Your will."

And say, "God, I’m looking to You. My expectation is of You. I don’t have much expectation of people because my expectation, Lord, comes from You. I know that whatever You ordain is going to come to pass." And then you look to see what doors He opens. I’m not saying you don’t do your due diligence. This woman had to do her due diligence.

In this case, in order to go before the king, she had to be beautified. In fact, all the women who were candidates spent one whole year. This is some contest. One whole year, 12 full months. Spa treatments, beauty treatments, plucking this and pulling out that and tucking this and getting it all—what was going on in Persia? Imagine for a solid year.

Them sisters just walking around, you see them going in their robe, "I’m going to get my spa today. All right, I’ll catch up with you later. I’m getting a Swedish massage today." One solid year. And so she had to participate. She couldn’t just say, "No, I don’t need all of that because if God don’t do it, He just going to bless me and I’m going to just come just as I am."

See, y’all got to get this straight. Some of you all, you think you’re walking in faith, but you’re walking in presumption. You’re presuming that because you’re blessed of God, you don’t have to do anything. That’s foolishness. God can have a plan to bless you educationally, but you’re going to have to study.

You don’t sit up somewhere and say, "Well, I’m a child of God, so I’m going to just go in there and let God give me word of knowledge." Oh, this is good, you just don’t know it. You’re not getting word of knowledge when you go in that room. You’re going to have to study what that professor told you. We taught our kids when they were young.

We would pray with them before their tests in school, and it was part of the pattern of our family to pray with them. But we told them, "Now you’ve got to do the studying." And once you’ve done your studying the night before your exam, when we’re having our family prayer before we all go to bed, let us know, "Tomorrow’s a test."

And we would always ask them, "All right, did you get enough studying done? Did you get enough? Do you have a grasp of the concepts?" "Yes, yes, we have it." And so we would pray, and our prayer was always, "Lord, give them recall of the things that they have learned." Because you know sometimes you learned it, and when you sit up there and look at the paper, bam!

You’re like, "Now I know I know this." So that was just part of the pattern in our family. We would pray, "Lord, give them recall," and they’d come home and say, "I did well on the exam." We’re not going to pray if you pray and you haven’t studied. That’s a different prayer. Y’all get me, that’s a different prayer.

That’s, "Oh Lord, have much mercy on my soul, because I’m not ready for this exam." No, no, you do your due diligence. In this case, when she had to get herself primped like the rest of the sisters. Couldn’t come in there just as I am without one plea. And the same is true in your life. At work, do your work.

Don’t sit up there and say, "I’m favored of God, I can take any old break I want." You’re going to be believing God for another job, that’s what you’re going to do. They’re going to put your parts in the street. Help me today. Y’all pray me through this. Pray me through this. Something else was about to come out. I had to switch, had to change up right quick.

Thank you, Jesus. Throughout redemptive history, God has given favor. It came through people, but it came from the Lord. And when God gives you favor, don’t think favor means the absence of trouble. In fact, if you had no trouble, you probably wouldn’t need much favor. Favor comes to neutralize and overcome trouble.

You’ve got to understand this. Walking by faith doesn’t mean the absence of trouble. If you didn’t have trouble, you wouldn’t need a whole lot of faith. Faith comes because it is built to resist whatever the enemy wants to try to do and bring to pass in your life. And so, in the case of Joseph, he had trouble in the form of his own brothers.

You’d be surprised where your trouble can come from sometimes. Your trouble can come from the least likely people. Folk you have helped, folk you have blessed, folk you have done nothing wrong to. Every now and then, they will take a fit against you. His brothers—now he was spoiled. You know that if you’ve studied Joseph’s life.

He was a spoiled brat, and his father loved him more than he loved his other siblings. Now, that’s wrong. You’re not supposed to love one child more than the other. You may love them differently. You may have different types of relationship depending on any number of factors, but your love ought to be just as fervent for every child when you are well-adjusted.

But how many know in life some things just happen? Some families are dysfunctional. And if you were messed over as a child, you still got some of that baggage and you haven’t cast all of that on the Lord yet, and you haven’t worked through all of that yet. And sometimes it’ll come out in your parenting.

The traits of the parents often become the tendencies of the children. That’s just a fact. And so he came from a dysfunctional family. Loved more by his father than the other brothers, so the other brothers got mad at him. Then God said, "They’re not mad enough to accomplish my purpose. I’m going to make them madder."

So what did He do? He gave Joseph two dreams. And in both dreams, the interpretation that Joseph was quick to tell everybody, "You know what that means, don’t you? That mean one day all y’all going to be bowing to me." Then they hated him all the more because of the dreams.

You know what this is? This is God setting up a deliverance for a situation that hasn’t even occurred yet. The famine hasn’t hit. God knows that in natural history, a famine is going to occur. Now, a lot of people say, "Now if God is God, right? So then He could have just not let there be a famine in the first place. Why He got to go through all this? Why He got to let them have the famine?"

That’s because you’re not God. God has set certain things in motion in the physical dimensional world, and they’re in motion, and they’re going to take place. Sure, God has the ability to have us all living in utopia right now, but it’s not going to happen. We live on Earth. You’re going always know this is Earth.

Don’t ever try to have so much faith that you try to make Earth heaven. It will never be that. Heaven’s going to be wonderful because it’s going to be so different than this. I’m looking forward to heaven.

Guest (Male): You know, stories like Esther’s serve to remind us of the redemptive power of God. He alone is able to keep us from falling and lead us on the path to the victorious Christian life to which we are destined. It is this truth that all of us at Destined for Victory want to share with the world, but we can’t do it without you, our listening friends and partners.

So we hope you’ll consider sending a generous gift today. When you do, we’ve got a great new resource to share with you as our way of saying thanks. Because I bet you have someone in your life, a friend, a coworker, a family member, and you’ve just never quite had the right words to say to them about the gospel of Christ.

If so, you’re going to love this month’s Destined for Victory resource. It’s called You Are So Loved. This booklet is a short, readable gospel presentation that doesn’t feel like a tract, and it might just open a door you’ve been praying to have opened for years. That’s You Are So Loved, our thank-you gift today for your generous donation to Destined for Victory.

You can give by phone by calling 855-339-5500. That’s 855-339-5500. Or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. And as always, you can mail your gift to Destined for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, California 94538. We don’t believe in luck. We are children of destiny. We are called according to divine purpose.

Even when God lets us go through persecution and trouble and negative circumstances, He’s setting something up so that He can get all of the glory. That’s next time in our continuing message, The Favor Factor. Until then, remember, He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. In Christ, you are destined for victory.