The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: He connects things that don't look connectable. When the timing is right and everything is looking wrong, a lot of people call it coincidence or chance, but Dr. Tony Evans says there's a better word. I choose providence. Providence is God hooking things up.

Guest (Male): This is the Alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Where we find ourselves in life could seem like the result of random elements naturally coming together. But today, Dr. Evans takes us to the book of Esther to help us see how much work God puts into the way our lives work out. Let's join him as he explains.

Dr. Tony Evans: Today we're going to go on a journey. It's a journey because you're going to discover today as part of this journey in chapters five and six, you're going to discover God being the author of coincidences. I use that word simply because it's a word we recognize. The real word is providence, but it looks like coincidences. It looks like things just kind of randomly happened.

The reason that this is important is because I want to help me and you and us recognize divine things that look like coincidences. Let's review. Esther has been promoted to be queen. Mordecai has told her that Haman wants to kill all of the Jews, and it's now time for you to go to your husband, King Ahasuerus, and tell him Haman's plot against the Jews.

Esther said, "I can't do that. It's too risky. I love y'all, but not that much. Because to go before him when he has not requested me could cost me my life." Mordecai has said to her in our previous chapter four, "Cousin," because she was his cousin, "don't think that you saying nothing is going to stop God's program.

God will find somebody else, somewhere else to do what you refuse to do, and his program is still going to go on. It's just you're going to lose out on being used to accomplish it." And then he makes the famous statement: "Don't you know that you are called to the kingdom for such a time as this? That you were only put up here in this royal position because God knew this moment, your moment, would be now.

Don't miss your moment, girl. This is your moment to be a tool of God to deliver God's people." When she hears that message from Mordecai, she says, "Okay. I want all of you to go on a three-day fast. I need you on your knees for this one because this is a big one. You're asking me to risk it all, and I'm going to go do it. And if I perish, I perish. If I die, I die, because you're right. This is bigger than just me."

That brings us to chapter five where we are today. Chapter five opens up, stay with me here, we're going on a journey. On the third day, because it was a three-day fast, Esther puts on a royal robe. She goes to the inner court of the king. The king is sitting on his throne. The king says to her, "What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom, it will be given you. Just tell me what you want."

Esther says in verse four, "If it pleases the king, may the king and Haman, who is out to kill the Jews, come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him." I'm going to tell you around dinner. So the banquet is prepared. And they drank their wine at the banquet. This is a big dinner party for her husband.

The king said to Esther, "What is your petition? You brought me here to dinner. You've fed me good. What do you want?" She's got them both sitting there. Dinner is fine. They've been doing their drinking. Everybody's ready to go. He's offered her the kingdom. "What do you want?" And she says, "What I want is for you to come to dinner tomorrow."

Something happened between verses six and eight to cause her to change her mind about making her petition. She changes her mind because she doesn't even finish the sentence. She just jumps to, "Let's do this again tomorrow." Verse nine. Glad and pleased of heart. He's saying, "Whoa, I was invited to eat with the king and his wife. Boy, I'm really rising on the ladder here."

The problem is when he goes out, he runs into Mordecai. And Mordecai would not stand up. Not respect him. The man is out to kill him. Mordecai's not going to stand up. Haman was filled with anger against Mordecai. He already doesn't like him. Now he's really ticked off because "I've come from this party with the king, with the queen. I'm standing before you, and you don't recognize who I am? And they just invited me to be with them. You don't know who I am?"

So he is ticked off. But he controls himself. He goes home and tells his wife. He says, "Wife, Zeresh, let me tell you about my day. I am the man. I am the man. Look, I'm rich. We got these ten sons. And the king magnified me and promoted me, and I'm above all the servants. And then guess what, baby? Esther the queen had me, no one but me, come to be with the king to eat dinner. Oh yeah, I'm boss.

But there is one problem. All this doesn't matter to me because this Mordecai the Jew, sitting at the king's gate and I can't stand it. I can't take it anymore." So his wife says, "We got to get rid of Mordecai. You build a gallows and we're going to kill him tomorrow. We're going to get rid of him because he's messing with you. He's messing with us. And he's made the best day of your life miserable. Build the gallows and let's get rid of him."

During the night, chapter six. During that night, chapter six, verse one. The king could not sleep. He tells his servant, "Go get me something boring to read. Find the most boring thing you can find, because the more boring it is, the more sleepy it will make me. And you go find me something boring to read. In fact, the most boring thing you can get is those books of the Chronicles. Get the Chronicles, because all those are names, dates, places, and events."

God is so detailed in his coincidences. He leads the servants to the right book, and he makes them read the right page. And on the page they read, it was found written what Mordecai had reported concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.

That goes all the way back to chapter two when Mordecai uncovered an assassination plot against the king, and it just happened to be written in the book, in the Chronicles, on the page from the book that he had them read that night. Not a night, *that* night he could not sleep. I know it's just luck. I know it's just chance. I know it's just something that just kind of happened. I got that.

He's been reading all these names and all these events, but this guy Mordecai, he saved my life, right? "Yeah, king." "Well, tell me, what, how did we honor him? How did we tell him we appreciate him for saving the king's life?" Servant said, "Oh, we didn't do anything for him." "What? We never said thanks to the man for saving the king's life?"

"No, this was a number of years ago. He saved the king's life and we just kind of went on. Because we took care of the two guys, we killed them and all of that. And so no, we just kind of went on." "You mean to tell me that man saved my life and I never told him thanks? Nothing?" "No, king, we didn't do nothing for him. We didn't do nothing for him."

On the day Mordecai is supposed to die, he's reading a book with Mordecai's name in it, just because he can't sleep on that night. Okay, watch this. The king asks in verse four, "I hear somebody outside. Who's outside in the court? It's early in the morning. Who would be up this early out there? Who's there? Who's in the court?"

Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace in order to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows which he had prepared for him. Okay, we're talking about that night. We're still on the same night here because it's that night. It's on the night that she had the delay the banquet because she wasn't sure. "This is the night I should do this."

And it was on that night that he gets ticked off to kill Mordecai. And it was on that night that the king can't sleep. And it was on that night that he needed a book to put him to sleep. And it was on that night that he turned to the right page that had Mordecai in it. And it was on that night, or the morning of that night, that Haman happens, by chance, luck, happenstance, fate, to be walking into the king's room to talk about killing the Mordecai that the king wants to bless.

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will return in a moment with more about how God's providential hand can flip the script in any situation, even yours. Don't go away.

Guest (Female): Remember the story of Cinderella? A young girl becomes a slave in her own home to her wicked stepmother and evil sisters. But then, through miraculous circumstances, she finds herself at the ball. She meets the prince, they fall in love, and she makes a quick getaway before the magic wears off. But the prince doesn't give up until he finds her. Unlikely? Sure. That's why they call it a fairy tale.

Guest (Male): But Dr. Tony Evans says God is ready to rewrite your life story, complete with a miraculous happy ending. And all the problems you run into along the way, they're part of the process. He explains how it all works in his book, *Pathways from Providence to Purpose*, an in-depth look at the story of Esther and why the key to reaching your destiny is staying on the providential path God has you on, even when you feel like quitting.

It's discovering the power of perspective and the fuel of faith. *Pathways from Providence to Purpose* from Dr. Tony Evans. *Pathways* perfectly complements the lesson we've been hearing today, and we'd like you to have a copy of it. We'll send you the book as our thank-you gift when you make a donation to help us keep Tony's teaching on this station.

The Urban Alternative is God-ordained, spirit-enabled, and listener-supported. And we want you to know how grateful we are when you do your part. So visit TonyEvans.org today, make a contribution, request your copy of *Pathways*, and we'll send it to you along with all six full-length audio lessons from Tony's current teaching series on the life of Esther. Again, that's TonyEvans.org or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222 and get some help from one of our friendly team members. That's 1-800-800-3222. Well, Dr. Evans is back now with more of today's message. Let's join him.

Dr. Tony Evans: Haman comes in. He wants to tell the king, "I'm going to kill Mordecai." King's servant said in verse five, "King, behold, Haman is standing at the door." "Let him come in. Tell Haman come in. He's my number two guy. Let him come in." So Haman came in. And the king said to him, "What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?"

"What is to be done with the man whom the king desires to honor?" Now, Haman thinks the king is talking about him. He's number two. "You want to honor somebody? Okay, king. Bring out the royal robe. Let him wear the king's robe. Then bring him the horse on which the king rides. Then put a royal crown even on the horse.

Then let the robe and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble princes and let them array the man whom the king desires to honor and lead him on horseback through the city square and proclaim before him: 'Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.'" Then the king said to Haman in verse ten, "Take quickly the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so for Mordecai the Jew."

God is the God of intersections. He connects things that don't look connectable. Esther has had to shift her plan to another dinner. This is not a good day. But she has gone before God. She has acted in faith. And so she's picking up signals that causes her to delay a dinner. She's picking up signals. Signals are going everywhere. But if you're not in touch with the spiritual, you won't pick up the signal when it's providence at work.

Ruth just happened to be gleaning in the field. Boaz just happens to come across at the exact time she's gleaning. And out of all of that, a widow who could not have children had the child, gives birth to Boaz, Boaz gives birth to Jesse, Jesse gives birth to David. She's in the Hall of Fame all because she luckily was gleaning at the right time.

God has a way of connecting. Moses' mother put him in a little basket because it was a dangerous time. Sent him down the Nile River. And as luck would have it, Pharaoh's daughter just happened to be bathing. And she looks at the baby, grabs the baby, falls in love with the baby, adopts the baby, raises the baby in Pharaoh's household.

Wasn't Moses lucky that his mama put him in the basket at just the right time? Wasn't Moses lucky that the Pharaoh's daughter was the one bathing and not one of the slaves in Pharaoh's house? Wasn't Moses lucky that she happened to be bathing at the exact time that his little basket was floating down the river?

Moses was a child of providence because God connects things at the proper time. You live on luck if you want to. I choose providence. Providence is God hooking things up. So Haman, verse eleven, took the robe, took the horse, arrayed Mordecai, and led him on horseback through the city square and proclaimed before him: "Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor."

Then Mordecai returned to the king's gate, but Haman hurried home mourning with his head covered. Told his wife, Zeresh, "This is what happened today. This whole thing is reversed." His wife, Zeresh, says, "Well, yeah, it looks bad for you, boy. Because you've fallen before this Jewish man." Brothers and sisters, this is 24 hours.

God is at work when circumstances look uncontrollable. God is at work when life looks unpredictable. God is at work when sin looks unstoppable. Psalm 121, verse four says God is at work when you are asleep. He may be silent, but he is not still. The Bible says when a man's way pleases the Lord, Psalm 16, verse seven, even his enemies will be at peace with him.

God can flip the script. And as long as we have a small view of God, or we refuse to put the spiritual first—seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness—if the spiritual is not first, then you're left to figuring it out on your own. And God's got all these answers all over the place. But because the spiritual receiver is off, we don't get the picture. He's not able to plant thoughts, new ideas, new solutions in our minds because we're so secular in our thinking that we don't pick up the signal.

You know the bad part of this whole story for Haman? Not only does he get a demotion that he himself helped arrange because he thought they were talking about him. So he demotes himself. See, the reason he wanted to kill him was because he was a Jew. And Jews don't bow to other than the God of the Bible.

And because he wouldn't bow, because he wouldn't respect him, because he wouldn't idolize him, because he wouldn't make a man God—please don't make a man God in your life—because then you put God in the position to show that he nor you are it. Why am I telling you that? Because I'm telling you the providence of God can even address racism.

It was the providence of God in 1955 when a woman named Rosa Parks happened to be on the bus, happened to have a man talk to her, she happened to not be willing to get up, which led to a civil rights movement, which changed the laws of the land. God knows how, when he gets the right people with the right faith at the right time in the right place to do the right thing, to flip the script even racially.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans will share a powerful personal story about that when he returns in a moment to wrap up today's message on divine coincidences. Don't forget, you can download or receive on CD or USB flash drive the entire six-part Esther series, including two complete messages that we won't have time to share on the broadcast.

They're all available to you along with our thanks when you visit TonyEvans.org and make a contribution toward this ministry. And as a special bonus, we'll even add our very own copy of Tony's powerful book, *Pathways from Providence to Purpose*. That's TonyEvans.org, where you can find all the details right on the homepage, or make the arrangements with the help of one of our friendly resource team members by calling 1-800-800-3222 anytime of the day or night. The number again, 1-800-800-3222. We'll get back to Dr. Evans' closing comments after this.

Guest (Male): Our faith can be tested by many things, like pain, loss, or even injustice. On the *Unbound* podcast, Dr. Tony Evans brings stories of true resilience to life.

Dr. Tony Evans: God knows what suffering is like. The God-man himself knows it far more deeply than we ever will.

Guest (Female): You're not marrying a man, you're marrying a calling.

Guest (Male): Home is not four walls and a roof.

Dr. Tony Evans: Hope does not disappoint because of the Holy Spirit who's been poured out within us.

Guest (Male): *Unbound* with Dr. Tony Evans. Listen now. You can listen to the *Unbound* podcast with Dr. Tony Evans wherever you hear your favorite podcasts. Life has a way of turning upside down when we least expect it. But how do we know when those reversals are part of God's plan and when they're the result of our own missteps? Well, find out what to do either way when Dr. Evans talks to us on Monday about divine reversals. Right now, he's back with a final story to share with us.

Dr. Tony Evans: It's about 1969. It's about 1969, maybe around 1969. One of my professors in college asked me to go to a church with him, to his church in East Point, Georgia, right outside of Atlanta. I go inside the church, and when I walk out of the church, all hell breaks loose because blacks were not allowed in the church.

My professor didn't agree with that. He asked me would I go. I went. I didn't know all this. So I went. And the church went into convulsions because this was, coming off the civil rights era and all that, and they went into convulsions over this black man coming into the church. So they had a meeting about what the church's official position was going to be, and there was a split among the leaders and among the congregation.

On the Sunday that I went, they had a guest preacher who was candidating to be their new pastor. I didn't know who was going to be preaching, but he was candidating to be their new pastor. He preached, they had all planned to bring him in. He found out their position in light of me going to the church. He wrote the church and says, "I cannot pastor a racist church."

So he said, "I'm not coming to this church." That split the church even more. From that day forward, the church began to go downhill, downhill, downhill, downhill, downhill. Five years ago, I get a phone call from the chairman of the deacon board. He says, "Our church has never recovered from that day you came with the professor.

And we recognize the reason God has not answered our prayers, the reason God has not rebuilt our church is because of the racism that we did to you way back in 1969. So I have been asked on behalf of the deacons to call you to apologize to you for the racism we did to you back in 1969. And I am calling you and I'm humbly requesting, would you come preach? Because God knows the right time to turn a situation around."

I'm trying to tell you, you don't know who you're dealing with. I want to challenge you to live under the providential hand of God even when it looks like it's not working out.