Insight for Living

Guest (Male): Many of us handle hard times better than good ones. We're almost more comfortable with struggle than with rest, with mourning rather than with joy. Strange, isn't it? But Chuck Swindoll says there's a reason for that and a remedy.

Today on Insight for Living, Chuck shows us why God doesn't just want to heal your pain; He wants to transform it into something you'll carry forward with gratitude. Teaching from Esther chapter nine, Chuck titled his message "After the Ache . . . Celebrate!"

Chuck Swindoll: When I read verses 17, 18, and 19, I read about a people who decided, "Let's name this day a day for a holiday. Let's call it Purim." All this annihilation of the enemy was done on the 13th day of the month Adar, and on the 14th day, they rested. Of course, they made it a day of feasting and rejoicing. How appropriate.

The Jews who were in Susa assembled on the 13th and the 14th day of the same month. They rested on the 15th day, took them a little longer to kill their enemies, and they made it a day of feasting and rejoicing. How appropriate, how good. Therefore, the Jews of the rural areas who live in the rural towns make the 14th day of the month Adar a holiday for rejoicing and feasting and sending portions of food to one another.

It reminds me of the spontaneous celebration that occurred shortly after Jamestown and Plymouth, when after enduring the bitterness of winter, the early forefathers of our great country decided to kill a few wild turkeys, and in primitive kind of ovens to bake fine cakes and pies, and to pull from the land some of the produce and from the sea some of the fish and have a feast and to celebrate a giving of thanks to God for surviving the awful winters of the past. It wasn't official until the governor of Massachusetts made it official in their New England, but until then, it was a spontaneous celebration of praise. It was their Purim. Those in the old country said, "You will never make it. You will regret it." And it was their thanksgiving to God for changing their sorrow into joy.

It becomes official at verse 20 down through verse 28, and how significant these words appear. Mordecai, whom I believe wrote the book of Esther, recorded these events and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far. Take notice of several things in this present time. First of all, notice the date of the celebration: obliging them to celebrate the 14th day of the month and the 15th day of the same month annually. So it was to be an annual holiday—two holidays, really—the 13th and the 14th.

Next, notice the reason for the holiday: because on those days, the Jews rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was turned for them from sorrow into gladness, from mourning into a holiday. They had already planned who would be buried where, and who would die and how. The families had perhaps rehearsed it in their mind over the dinner table. They knew it was coming until God intervened. And now they chose the very days when they would have been annihilated and exterminated, and they turned those days from sadness and mourning to rejoicing and celebration. It was to acknowledge the change of events. That's the purpose, that's the reason for this time of celebration.

Look at the expression of it. Verse 22 continues, "That they should make them days of feasting and rejoicing and sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor." This is all being written into the record. This is the way it will be for the Jews from henceforth. Then the name of the holiday: Thus, the Jews undertook what they had started to do and what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had schemed against them to destroy them and had cast Pur—that is, the lot—to disturb them and to destroy them.

And when it came to the king's attention, he commanded by letter that his wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews should return on his own head and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. Therefore, call these days Purim after the name of Pur. And because of the instructions in this letter, both what they had seen in this regard and what had happened to them, let it be written. The custom was to take place annually. The Jews established and made a custom for themselves and for their descendants for all who allied themselves with them. So that they should not fail to mourn? No, to celebrate. To celebrate two days according to their regulation and according to their appointed time annually.

Ask many people what the book of Esther represents; they will tell you it's a book of tragedy. I don't read tragedy in Esther. They will tell you it's the early Holocaust. There's no Holocaust in Esther. There's a threat of a Holocaust. Do you know this is the only book the Jews can turn to to find a roots for their holidays of Purim? Do you know when they still to this day read from the scrolls of Esther that little children and young adults and old alike, when the name Haman is mentioned, they pound on their desks and they pound on tables and even with shoes, they pound on pieces of wood, boo and hiss. And then others, when they announce Mordecai and Esther, they cheer and they shout with voices of joy in honor of Esther. It's a reenactment of the story of triumph. It's called Purim.

Look at verse 28. Here's the purpose: "So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation." And by the way, it's still going on. Every family, every province, and every city. And these days of Purim were not to fail from among the Jews or their memory fade from their descendants. There it is.

In two or three generations, nobody would have remembered Purim. Only a few. But it's like talking to today's generation about the difficulties of World War II, and they listen, they smile a bit or cock their head to the side and they have no memory of what many of us call the Great War. In another generation, Vietnam will just be a place on the map. There will be no memory, there will be no sense of anguish, no sadness over loss. Even the emotion would be gone if it weren't for the establishment of a celebration.

This is the reason many of us appreciate a return to Washington D.C., a city of memorials and monuments. Don't you love going there? It is one city that has not considered monuments an extravagance. A number of years ago, my daughter and I jogged early one morning in Washington D.C. It was in the summer, the sun was just coming up, and we ran from our hotel down to the Washington Monument and turned, and along the lagoon to the Lincoln Memorial, and then over and around the Jefferson Memorial, and then back down to the Vietnam Memorial.

At each memorial, we slowed our pace and we talked as we ran together. We rehearsed a bit of the life or a bit of the history that that memorial represented. Memorials represent places to stand and to be quiet, to read and to reflect and to pass on to the next generation the roots of a nation's heritage. They give the past significance because they give the past perspective.

One of my main fears of life and lifestyle where most of us live is that we have so few memorials, so few monuments, even mental monuments. Life is lived in the fast lane: quick decisions, quick money, fast action, strong competition, so little time spent stopping and recording and learning. Have you observed that a divorce can come and sweep across a family and break it and bruise it, and life goes right on? That a young woman can get an abortion and those who know cluck their tongues, frown, shake their head, and life goes on? And she later regrets it with words she cannot even utter, but life goes on.

And for another, there's a financial reversal and a business fails, and life goes on. And still another, there's a death or a heartache or a scandal, and before long, it's swept up in the whirlwind of activity and life goes on. And we're left with the anguish of a memory and so little perspective. In order for there to be perspectives over these things, there must be monuments. There must be memorials and they must be returned to and learned from and passed on. There must be the Purims in our lives, without which we live rootless, fast-lane lives without much significance.

And the worst part of all, our children learn less than little, often nothing, from our failures, our brokenness, and our sorrow. If anything, they learn only to hate like we hated, and to get revenge like we sought to do, or simply to drink themselves to sleep like so many choose to do. In verses 29 through 32, at the end of the story, all of it is made official. Queen Esther steps in and writes with full authority along with Mordecai to confirm this letter about Purim.

And then the letters are sent to all the Jews and all the provinces according to verse 30. And they establish those days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established for them. And the command of Esther, this chapter concludes, establishes these customs for Purim and it is written in the book. There's a memorial established. There's a holiday for reflection. And to this day, even little children centuries removed from the days of Esther take off their shoes and pound on desks to remember the name of Haman and cheer to the top of their voice as they listen again to the name of Mordecai and the name of Esther. They still learn from the ancient scroll.

What is all of this saying? How does it relate to our lives today? Well, most of all, I think it's saying all of us, when looking back, can see sadness and remorse and nothing else unless perspective is provided. And I think it is saying unless we provide some kind of perspective, we will do nothing but sigh and grieve over our past.

In light of that, I have a suggestion and I have a warning. My suggestion is this: that each one of us raise up memorials, mental monuments that turn tragedies into triumphs. Each one of us. That we raise up memorials to turn tragedies into triumphs. Webster says a monument is lasting evidence of something or someone notable. Webster defines memorial as serving to preserve remembrance, a commemoration.

Think back for a moment to the coming of the boll weevil. All of you are old enough to have a few crop failures, disasters. Think back. Have you built a monument to it? It may be too close and too raw for you to do it today, but don't spend the rest of your life licking your wounds over yesteryear or you will experience a grim future. What did you learn from it? How did it turn in your life? You can't change it, it's over. Sure, you should have known better. Sure, I could leave you with all kinds of shame on the "shoulds" and "woulds" and "oughts" that I could lay on you and you could lay on me. But what did you learn from it? It's that that's worth passing on to the next generation and the next.

Here's the warning: Don't turn the memorial into a shrine. Isn't it strange those who travel in the land of Israel today are told this is a piece of wood from the Cross, and this is a piece of wood from the Cross? One cynic said if I gathered up all the wood that was told me to be a piece of the Cross, I could have built a battleship. Who cares about a piece of wood from the Cross? It isn't in existence. Who needs it?

What I need is a memorial, and God's given it in the table—the bread and the cup. That's the memorial of the Cross, and He left it as a legacy for people of faith. And every time we sit at the table, children are to understand, sweetheart, the bread represents the body; honey, this piece of bread is for His body which was given for, and the juice, this represents His blood. This is a memorial, and we remember this because He died for us.

But it isn't a place to worship. We don't worship the elements. We don't bow before the table where they're served. We worship the memory and the significance, the triumph of the Cross. This is what makes Christmas so wonderful. The enemy would love that we just do nothing but keep it merry. Just "Merry Christmas." Legend is told of the time Satan and his demons were having a Christmas party. As the demonic guests were preparing to depart, one grinned and said to Satan, "Merry Christmas, your majesty." At that, Satan replied with a growl, "Yes, keep it merry. If they ever get serious about it, we'll all be in trouble."

Get serious about it. It is the birth of the baby. It is the coming of God. It is the intervention of God's presence. Get serious. It is the invitation to take Him and own Him as Lord and Master. Don't seek to find the site where He was crucified. Don't seek to locate the tomb from which He was raised. They've made them all into shrines. You need the Savior.

Really, what I offer today is an answer to the ache of life, an answer to the Hamans who shadows have crossed your lives and to the would-have-been Holocausts that would have devastated your existence. I suggest you make a memorial out of it and the lessons you learn from it that have turned you into a person God wanted you to be. Those are the things to pass on and on and on. I don't know what all of this says to anyone else, but it says a whale of a lot to me. It says I'm grateful for a book that has recorded the whole story that hasn't quite yet ended; it will next time. But it's a story of triumph that grew out of tragedy, ecstasy out of agony, celebration out of an ache.

When they nailed Him on a Cross, I imagine that night a lot of them got drunk. I'm sure they toasted one another with triumphal words. I'm sure the empty-headed fools that ran the government thought, "Another crazy gone from us, finally got rid of that headache." In the eerie hours of the morning, three days later, there was the beginning of a celebration, and that's a message we return to every Easter because God gave us a memorial. My question to you is how long will you stay at the ache and the heartbreak and the brokenness of your pain? When will it become for you a Purim, a time to learn and to pass on the lessons, the beginning of the rest of your life? When?

Let's bow together, shall we? Imagine for a moment stepping before the real tomb from which He was raised. Imagine looking into the distance and seeing the shadow of the real Cross that the sands of time have not erased, the real scene. Now imagine standing before Him whose hands are scarred, whose side was pierced. Are you real sure you have a relationship with Him that will take you into and beyond eternity? Are you certain He is your God and Savior? He invites wise people to come to Him to this day to see themselves in their sin and lostness and brokenness and to come join the company of the faithful, to come and adore Him.

Our Father, we realize that in life there are these events that occur that bring us a deep ache of heart. In fact, they break our hearts. They're hard to bear. They're hard to hear. They're hard to deal with. They're hard to recover from. But when we begin to get your perspective on these things, when we begin to see your hand at work turning our heartaches into causes of celebration, we realize yet again that the life of faith pays off.

Thank you for honoring your name even through the midst of our trials. Thank you for a reminder that in the end, you win. Thank you, Father, for personalizing events in such special ways to make us realize that memorials can be built in places of monuments of misery or memories that break our hearts. Bring us back to those memorials from time to time to strengthen our faith as we call to mind what you have done in turning curses and heartaches into causes of celebration and blessing. We thank you for all of this and we claim these things today by faith in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and master, our triumphant King. Amen.

Guest (Male): Pain has a long memory, but as Chuck Swindoll reminded us today, God specializes in turning mourning into celebration, transforming the very day meant for destruction into a feast. The question isn't whether your boll weevil has come; it's whether you've built a monument yet.

This is Insight for Living and we're coming near the conclusion of Chuck Swindoll's 12-part biographical study on Esther: A Woman of Strength and Dignity. While there's still time, we encourage you to take advantage of the bundle of resources that we've assembled for this study. It includes the Searching the Scriptures Bible study workbook, Chuck's full-length biography of Esther, and the complete collection of 12 sermons on CD. To access this bundle right now, go to insight.org/offer.

Bill Meyer: Chuck, we're coming up on another milestone here at Insight for Living. On June 30, we'll close the books on another ministry year and step into our 47th year of ministry. And moments like this, it's imperative that we remain laser-focused on our primary mission.

Chuck Swindoll: Not long ago, I had the privilege of sitting with a small group of young pastors: bright, eager, serious about their calling, and they came loaded with questions. I loved it. One of them leaned forward and asked me something I've been asked a hundred times, but it never gets old. He said, "Chuck, how do I quicken the hearts of my congregation in a world that spends more time staring into a cell phone than reading a Bible?"

I smiled because I've been waiting my whole life for that question. Stick to the word. That's it. That's the answer. Don't chase trends. Don't craft clever self-help messages dressed up in religious language. Don't try to out-entertain the entertainment world. You'll lose that race every single time. Just open your Bible, tell your people who God is, let the text speak, and I promise you, you will never, ever want for an audience. His word is inexhaustible. His character is genuinely, breathtakingly awesome. And I mean that in the purest sense of the word, not a hashtag, not a throwaway adjective: awesome.

Here's something you may not know: Insight for Living reaches a remarkable number of pastors. We train them, we resource them, we come alongside them in their calling. And when you impact a pastor, you impact a congregation. When you impact a congregation, the ripple effect spreads through families and then through generations. That's not a small thing. That's a legacy. As June 30 approaches, I want to invite you to invest in the next generation of Cross-proclaimers. Your gift doesn't reach just one person. It reaches a pastor who reaches hundreds, who raise up families, who carry the message forward long after you and I are gone. What are you waiting for? Let's invest together. The Cross we proclaim is worth every penny.

Bill Meyer: When you give today, we'll be saying thanks by providing a brand-new booklet from Chuck. It's called *The Cross We Proclaim*. This isn't a booklet that elevates the power of the human spirit. In fact, it's one that openly admits our personal failures, our poor decisions, and the things we'd rather forget. Chuck calls it "the pit."

In *The Cross We Proclaim*, you'll discover why Jesus, through the Cross, doesn't ignore your past but redeems it. A copy is yours with a gift to support Insight for Living. Address your envelope to Insight for Living, Post Office Box 5000, Frisco, Texas, 75034. You can also call us at 1-800-772-8888 or give online at insight.org/donate.

I'm Bill Meyer. Join us when Chuck Swindoll continues his biographical study of Esther: A Woman of Strength and Dignity, Monday on Insight for Living.