God’s Sovereign Hand

God is faithful to save His people, even in the midst of their wandering and disobedience.

2:19 - 23

We come to the end of chapter 2 and we’re thinking, Okay. Morti done a good thing! He’s going to get an atta boy! But when we read the first few words of chapter three, verse 1, it’s NOT Mordecai being honored, it’s this guy named Haman.

And sometimes we have life kick us in the teeth like that. Sometimes we’re going along and things just get pulled out from under us.

And tonight we’re talking about what happens when we come face to face with a situation that doesn’t make sense, where there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme, reason, or justice to things.

It’s in those times that we have to choose to believe in a sovereign God who has all things under his control.

There is no coincidence with God.

3:7-11

Proverbs 16:33

When you start to look for God’s sovereign hand in what others call chance or luck, it will change your life.

I’ve heard so many people say, I just don’t see God working. I don’t know that God still works in our world.

Our success doesn’t belong to us alone.

3:1-6

See, the moment Haman was elevated, he tried to keep elevating himself. He tried to utilize and leverage3 his position to make himself even BETTER! He wanted men to bow down to him, and when Mordecai wouldn’t, he began to hatch a plot to kill him, and EVERYONE of his people.

See, Haman fell into the trap of praise.

Mark telling us we weren’t that hot.

Proverbs 27:21

A man is tested by his praise.

So, what are we supposed to do?

We must treat our honor as God’s platform.

When we’re honored, it’s not a time to promote what we’ve done, or promote our agenda. It’s not a time to stand and say, And NOW……here’s what I’m going to do with this leverage.

For Haman, he was recognized, he was singled out, and was HONORED and he was USING this as a means of leveraging the king against his enemies…..and here’s where we have to pause, and do a little deep dive on Haman.

Haman was an Agagite. These were descendents of a man named Agag.

Who was himself the king of a people called the Amalekites. The Amalekites were a group of people who were Israel’s sworn enemies. But Israel had destroyed their royal line, and they’d been left a band of wandering raiders, and people just……more or less trying to get by, and who hated israel.

This was the reason for his burning hatred. and this is going to frame everything that happens next.

vs 12 - 15

Our tragedies don’t take God by surprise.

vs 12 - 15

This was something that wasn’t hidden from God. It wasn’t kept from Him.

He saw this plan developing in the mind of Haman and guess what.

He let it keep going.

When you choose to trust God in the middle of your hurt, in the middle of your setback, in the middle of truly terrible things that happen to you

When people SIN against you….and you still TRUST God, and His good hand to guide you, and to take care of you, your faith grows, it becomes powerful. It becomes a sustaining force.

But here’s the thing

Choosing to trust God is a volitional act.

Takeaway

God is sovereign over every chance encounter, over our greatest accomplishments, and over our deepest tragedies.