Is That You, God ? // Silent Symphony // Read
The Book of Esther is one of only two works in Scripture that never mentions God. In fact, there doesn’t appear to be a single recorded miracle in the book—no moment where God steps into the narrative to save the day. That makes Esther one of the most relatable books in the biblical canon. Chances are, you’ve had moments in your life when God seemed to disappear from your story—and just when you need him the most. But just as Esther discovered, God’s sovereignty doesn’t take a single day off of work. And in the midst of the supposed silence, God is conducting a symphony in your life. All you have to do? Trust Him.
A symphony is defined as “...an elaborate musical composition for a full orchestra.” And there lies the beauty of a symphony—that it incorporates all aspects of the orchestral suite: strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. God works in a similar way...He incorporates all aspects of His creation to speak. So when we think God is quiet, He in fact may be He speaking to us through a way—or through a person—that we never would’ve expected.
Man oh man, welcome to everybody here. Welcome to everybody watching us online. Good to have you with us as well. I'm excited. We are in part two of this brand new teaching series here that we started just last week at Cornerstone called silent Symphony, silent Symphony. And the subtitle is when God goes quiet, basically what we're talking about the idea that the question that we're trying to answer in this series is the question, why does God seem so quiet? Why does God seem so quiet? Can anybody relate to that at any point in your life? Has God seemed quiet to you? Yes, absolutely. All of us can say that, because, at some point, God has always seemed quiet to someone, right? At some point.
We have different points in our life, where God we see in Scripture was so loud with things like the splitting of the Red Sea, right? That's a loud thing. That's a big thing. God was so loud with raining fire down from heaven, all these big acts. And we see that in Scripture, and then we see our life. And we're like, Well, where's my red sea moment?
Where is the splitting of the red? See, for me, it seems pretty quiet in comparison. So what do we do when God seems to go silent? What do we do when God seems to be quiet in our life, and what we've been doing is studying the Book of Esther, the Book of Esther, it's one of only two books get this one of only two books in all of scripture where God's name is never mentioned. It's kind of crazy. Not only is God's name never mentioned, but he's also never alluded to like, they don't even really point to him and say, Well, this was God. And this is there are no miracles even recorded in the book of Esther. It's a pretty crazy book. And it's one that you may relate to because you feel like that's more relatable than the Red Sea moments of Scripture, right? That God seems quiet and he seems distant. You're not sure if he's there, or if he's working. So we've been studying this book we started last week. In chapter three, I just want to give a real short, as short as I can recap of where we're at in the story. So no one's coming into it, not knowing what's going on. So here, here's where we pick up in the book of Esther, God's chosen people, the Jewish nation, have been overthrown by the Babylonian Empire. And then the Persian Empire came in and took over the Babylonian Empire. So right now the Jewish people, are living in exile. In the Persian Empire. They're under the thumb of this pagan Empire, and Emperor King Xerxes, and so they're living under this pagan rule. And during this time, this king King Xerxes is looking for a new queen. And he happens to hold his own misperceive contest and a Jewish woman. He doesn't know that she's Jewish, but a Jewish woman by the name of Esther wins she wins the King's favor and so she becomes the next queen. Now at this point if you're a Jewish person, and you know Esther is Jewish, you're like we got an inside woman All right like we got somebody in the halls of power this is a good thing because it's been setback after setback after setback, right? Like our kingdom was overthrown. We're living in exile now. So hey, we've got somebody on the inside this is a good thing. But it gets better. Because he Esther's cousin, a man by the name of Mordecai, who's kind of like a father figure to her she's lost both of her parents. So her cousin Mordecai uncovers a plot to kill the king. There's a plot to kill Xerxes. He hears about it, he notifies Esther and Esther alerts the king giving credit to Mordecai. The assassination attempt is foiled, the king is saved. And now if you're a Jew, you're going Whoa, we're sitting pretty. Like this is great. The Queen is a Jewish person. And the guy who just foiled this assassination attempt is a Jewish person. Things are on the upswing. God must be loving God's God's talking. He's speaking he's doing things. But then, unfortunately, not too long after that assassination attempt is foiled. Things change, an evil man by the name of Haman comes into power. He wins a lot of influence with King Xerxes, the king of the Persian Empire. And the king issues an edict that Hey everyone, whenever you see Haman walking by whenever you see him, pay him honor by kneeling to him. Mordecai knows what an evil man this is. He follows God. He's not going to do it. He's not going to bow his knee that infuriates Haman, infuriates and infuriates him so much that rather than just killing Mordecai, he wants mordekaiser entire people wiped off the face of the earth. He's like, you know what, I'm so fed up with you. I'm so infuriated that you won't pay me the honor. I feel like I'm done. I'm not happy to just have you executed. I'm going to have everybody who belongs to your race, execute, and so he uses the influence that he has with
King Xerxes goes before him tells him, Hey, there are these people that live among your provinces. They don't listen to you. They don't listen to you. You told people about it before me, people aren't doing it, you need to wipe them out, you need to set a set the standard here, so they know and the rest of your people know that you won't tolerate disobedience. And so the king agrees. They issue this edict, it's sent out to all the provinces saying Come, come this day, all Jewish people will be executed. They're going to the gallows. And that's where we left off last week, a pretty dire situation and say, it's a situation where you're looking at and you're going,
this ain't good.
God suddenly getting pretty quiet again, right? Like your people, the people that you said, we're going to be a blast people and the whole earth is going to be blessed through them. They're about to be executed. And that's where we pick up today. So if you want to follow along, you got a Bible app or hardcopy Bible. We're in Esther chapter four, starting in verse one. So here's what happened after that edict is sent out that all the Jewish people are to be killed. When Mordecai again Easter's cousin or Esther's cousin, learned of all that had been done. He tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city wailing loudly and bitterly. But he only went as far as the Kingsgate because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. In every province, which the edict and the order of the king came there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping, and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes. That's something that the Jewish people would wear in times of mourning. Verse four, when Esther's Unix and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai told her Hey, your cousin is like not in a good place. When they came and told her this. She was in great distress. So she sent clothes for him to go put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. So as far as like, Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna find out what's going on here. My cousin is in great distress. I don't know what's going on. So she sends her attendant to go find out what is going on half that her attendant went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate. Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money, Haman had promised to pay in the Royal Treasury for the destruction of the Jews. He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict further annihilation, which had been published in the city Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her. And he told her, told him to instruct her to go into the king's presence and beg for mercy and plead with him for her people. So basically, what's going on here? Mordecai talks to Esther's attendant is like, Look, this is what's going on. I know Esther is not aware, the king has just proclaimed to have all of us killed like we're all going to be wiped out. You have got to tell Esther, she's got to go back in she's got to talk to the king use whatever influence she has to try to persuade him and change his mind something different has to happen here. So Esther's attendant hatha key went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. Then she instructed him to say back to Mordecai, all the king's officials in the people of the Royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned. The king has but one law that they are put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. And it's been 30 days since I've been called to see the king.
testers like, Look, I hear what you're saying, I get it things are bad things are like are terrible for our people. But you need to know something. I think I'm on the outs with the king. Like, if I go before the king and I have not been summoned, I will be put to death. That's what the law says I'll be put to death. And he has not called on me in 30 days. I can't I can't just walk in there. I can't go in his presence. Verse 12, when Esther's words were reported back to Mordecai, he sent back this answer. Do not think that because you're in the King's House, you alone out of all the Jews will be escaped. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And then here's the key, the key verse that ends on and who knows Esther, but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this. So Mordecai is saying, look, if you think you'll be able to save yourself, but not speaking up and just remaining quiet. God's gonna bring up deliverance somewhere else. But Esther What if you're here? Because you're supposed to be the conduit of God's deliverance? What if that's why you're in this position? What if you were here for such a time as this? And what I want to say to everybody else is the words of Mordecai are leaping off the page of Scripture, and they're applying to every single person in here everybody watching us on Facebook and YouTube. What if you're here today, for such a time as this? Like, what if you thought, you know you haven't been to church in a while. You want to get back in God's good graces. So you'll come today? Did someone bribe you with lunch afterward? So you're like, Yeah, sure. All
Right. Maybe you just clicked on here cuz someone shared this on YouTube or Facebook until you're watching now. And you thought this was just a coincidence, you thought this was just you signing in, you don't realize this was a divine appointment. And God had this in mind for you for some time now. And you're here for a reason, right? You're here for the reason God is wanting to speak to you. He is wanting to talk to you. So I want to say this if you are someone in your life, who, who you feel like you're in the midst of silence right now, like silent Symphony that kind of resonates with you, you're like, yeah, my life feels pretty quiet. God feels pretty quiet right now. Or if maybe you're in a good period in your life. But you see hundreds of people getting killed across the ocean in Afghanistan. And you're seeing that just horrific situation. There's no other word for it. You see what's going on over there. It'll bring you to tears. It's just, it's so sad. It's a humanitarian crisis. And we've got to pray. We've got to pray for the people over there. We've got to pray for our leaders. We just got to pray for the whole situation. It's terrible. And you look at that, and you go, God's quiet, in the middle of that. Like, I just saw a picture of a young 23-year-old Marine who was holding a baby saying I love my job. Three days later, she's dead in a suicide bombing. That's horrifying. Where is God in that right now? There is a category for almost category five hurricane hurtling towards Louisiana on almost the I believe it's the 15th or 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. And it's right on its way. And those poor people, some of them are still rebuilding, they're still trying to get themselves out of what happened to them almost two decades ago. And you look at that, and you're like,
Hello,
are you there? You're awfully quiet. could use a Red Sea moment right about now. Could you some fire falling from heaven, right about now? Like Where? Where are you, God? Why are you so quiet. And if that's where you're at, I want to let you know, today is for you. And next week is for you. Please, please be back. Please be back to these teaching series that we do at cornerstone. It's because we can't get up, you all will leave, we can't get up here and speak for three straight hours. We can't do it, you'll Peace out, you'll just get out of here. So we got to split these things up. But I'm telling you right now, I'm telling you, these things build on each other. And so what we're talking about next week, you need to hear it if you are going through moments of silence in your life because I promise you even amid that silence, there can be an encouragement, there can be an encouragement. And you can know that God, even though he may seem silent, he is not absent from your situation. And that's where we kind of left off. Last week, we talked about the idea that God is not absent just because he's silent. Right? He's not absent just because he's silent. In a symphony, the most important member of symphony, the most important member of the orchestra doesn't make a noise, the conductor, the conductor makes zero noise is silent the entire time. And yet the entire production falls on him or her on them conducting things on them knowing when people are supposed to come in and go out. And when this piece plays, when that piece plays, the conductor is the only silent person yet they are the most important person and they navigate the entire orchestra, they navigate the entire Symphony. Just because God is silent does not mean that he is absent. In fact, on the other hand, God may be quiet in your life because God's in control.
He may be quiet because he's in control. If you've ever gotten into an argument with someone, and you know, you're on the right side, which is such a fantastic feeling, right? Whenever you're in an argument, you're able to know like, Okay, I know that I'm doing things right. I know I'm honoring God, here. It's a very peaceful moment, even in the midst of high stress. Whenever you get into an argument with someone, and things are getting kind of heated, and they start losing it. Like they're yelling, and they're getting more animated and stuff. It's very easy to tell who's really kind of on the right side and wrong side, right? Who's got control and who doesn't have control? Because the person who's loud and who's freaking out? No, that's the person who controls has left the room for them. But it's the person who's even keel, who says, hey, look, I don't know what to tell you this, this is how I see it. And this is what's happening person who is still is calm, who is steady, they have control. And in the same way, the enemy in your life tries to make a whole lot of noise tries to seem bigger than he is because he doesn't have any power over your life. God, on the other hand, doesn't need to do that. He doesn't need to be loud. He doesn't need to be big. He doesn't need to be voiceless. He doesn't need any of that. Because he's actually in control. So he's calm, and he's quiet. And he's still because he can be because he's in control. He is the conductor. He's the conductor and so
With that in mind, and this is where we left off last week that we're picking up today is, with that in mind, what if the silence that you experience in your life is on purpose? What if the silence in your life? Is God setting you up for something? What if the silence is the setup? What if the silence is the build-up to something better happening in your life? And that's what we're going to be building on today? What if silence is the setup? What if there's actual purpose in the pain that you're going through? Right? What if there's the purpose? Because that changes everything, doesn't it? If you know that the silence you're experiencing right now is just a setup for something better? You can handle it, can't you? Like a hearing Cornerstone?
Please, please hear me I love our building.
And it also needs a facelift. And it needs a few more 1000 square feet, right? Like this is a small building, we bought this only because of COVID. Because we knew we could fit in it now. But we have to add on, we have to renovate all of those things have to happen. And since we know we're in the middle of a building campaign to make that happen, guess what that does for our current situation. It makes it sustainable, we're able to be in this period of man, it's we really would like to have different paint, we'd like different light fixtures, we'd like things here and there. And they're in the kids' area, we'd like it to look different. We would, we would love to do all that right now. But we're able to wait knowing something is coming. It makes the pain that we experience in the middle of this product because as an as a purpose. And the same is true if you have silence in your life where God feels quiet. But you know, it's a setup for something better, you can handle it, it changes the entire way you view the silence that you are experiencing in your life. What if the silence is a setup? Because I'll tell you this much God, God prefers to give the silent treatment sometimes he just does. Can anyone relate to experiencing the silent treatment in their life? Right for my spouse, Amen. Hallelujah. I see those hands. That's me, me and my wife are like polar opposites on how we like to argue how we talk about stuff.
I am a pusher. I'm like, if something's going down, I want to talk now talk to me right now what's going on? Let's talk this out. Like I hate it. I just want to talk at that moment. On the other hand, she's like, No, I want to decompress. I don't want to talk about it right now. Let's talk about it later. I just want to collect my thoughts on stuff. And guess what's more effective?
the silent treatment, like, every time, every time we do it her way, the conversations better every time we do it her way, we actually both can like, and sit and process and go over things. Well, every time we do it my way. Not so much. Right? Like, it's just it's not as effective. It doesn't work as well. The same is true with God. God uses silent treatment a lot in your life. Because even though you may think you hate it, it's way more productive than you think it is. That God does something during the silence, which is why he uses the silent treatment, which is hard. I just gotta say it's hard for me to accept that. Because I don't like silence. I don't like it. And this is one of the reasons I don't like it. It's because silence can suck. Literally.
Silence can literally suck the hope out of a situation. It just does. It just does silent whenever it enters into a situation. It sucks hope out of it. Do you just feel like god are you are you there? Like are you? Is everything okay? Are you really talking to me? Did you really say this? Did you really say that silence can suck the hope out of a situation? That's exactly what happened. What we just read in the book of Esther. Esther, Chapter Four. Listen to verses three and four again, this is this the Jews reaction to hearing about this proclamation going out in every province, which the edict came, there was great mourning among the Jews with fasting weeping, and wailing. Esther even tried to send Mordecai different clothes, be like Hey, hey, cheer up, cheer up. He refused them just completely and utterly refused them because silence had sucked the hope out of the situation.
And that's what it does. And it's hard. It's hard when you go through silent periods and go through silent moments. And that's exactly what Mordecai was experiencing. It's like, if you've ever had someone who you think has your back, like you, you think man, they're here. They're good. They're on my side. You know, we're good. We're tight. And then you find out someone talked bad about you. And they were present for that. It didn't say a word.
Yeah, absolutely. Ouch. Right? hurts. That hurts because you're like me and you just sat
In silence, I thought you had my back. I thought you were looking out for me. I gotta imagine that's what Mordecai was feeling. times 100 like God, I'm honoring you. Like, I'm not bowing my knee before an unrighteous person like I'm not bowing my knee to them. I'm honoring you. In this is this is how you repay me. You don't have my back. You're silent. You're silent at this moment, as hard silence when you experience it, it can make you question Did God say that? Are things really going to be okay? Are things really going to turn out the way that I hoped they would because silence can suck the hope out of a situation? But it doesn't have to silence can change you and make you more bitter, but it doesn't have to silence can cause doubt in your life. But it doesn't have to be silence can instill fear in your heart. But it doesn't have to. It doesn't have to do any of those things. It can suck the hope out, but it doesn't have to. And we actually see that happen with Mordecai. We see that happen with him. Even though it seems like hope was completely sucked out of this situation. Mordecai stays the course. Listen again, this is verse one. When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city wailing loudly and bitterly. Now for a lot of us. We hear that and we're like, Wait, what? He stayed the course. Like it sounds like he's having a breakdown, right? Like he's going out in the city. He's wailing. He's always doing stuff. What is going on here? Why? Why is what we're seeing from Mordechai a signal that like this, is this something we should do? Because amid Mordecai silence, guess what he didn't do? He didn't turn back.
Do you guys remember why this proclamation to kill all of the Jewish people even got issued in the first place?
Because Mordecai wouldn't bow his knee to this evil man, Haman. That's the whole reason.
This text could have said when Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he left and entered into the presence to say, Hey, I'm sorry. Hey, hey, man, I'm sorry. I'll There we go. Is that better? Are we good? Now? can we undo that? That Proclamation. Now, he didn't do that he didn't turn his back. He didn't go back. And what he did, he kept the course he kept going with what he knew he was supposed to do. And here's the thing that Mordecai understood that we have got to understand in our own lives, if you honor the Lord, you can trust the silence. If you honor God, if you are truly honoring God with your life, it's like pastor Charles Stanley says, If you obey God, you can just leave the outcome to him. You don't even have to worry, you just leave the outcome to him. Because if you are totally obeying God, he's on the hook. You're not anymore. That's the kind of life I want to be able to say, there you go, you're, it's on you now, not me, because I don't want things to be on me. Like, I'm not that good. I'm not that good of a person. I'm not that good at making things happen. I want God on the hook for my life, not myself, not my own talent, not my own strength. I don't want that. And if you obey God, if you honor the Lord, if moments of silence come into your life, you can still trust even in the midst of it. Even in the midst of the silence, you can trust God, just like Mordecai, he wept. It was still hard. It doesn't. It doesn't mean that the silence you go through isn't difficult. Like if you're going through a silent period in your life right now where God seems quiet, and God seems distant. It doesn't make it any easier to know that he's still there. And suddenly, you're like, Well, okay, now I'm not sad anymore. Now I'm not missing this connection with God anymore. No, you're still gonna feel that Mordecai still wept. Mordecai still wailed. But man, whenever you know that God is still present, it can do something for you. It can give you a little bit of confidence to know that the silence you may be experiencing is just the setup for something better, Cornerstone wheat we are there, aren't we? We've been in periods of silence as a church, we've been in periods of silence. And we know man, the good parts come in, as the good parts come in. We're in the good part now. And it's continuing to come. Because God may insist on a setup for something better. And the reason we can say that, not with just blind hope, but with confidence, is because we're trusting in the Lord. I can tell you, I can tell you without hesitation, that leadership of our church is doing everything we can to honor God. Everything we can honor God, with our finances, with the way we live our life. We are doing everything we can to honor God. And so I can say if there are any moments that it seems like God's being quiet, I'm not getting freaked out. I'm just not sound like he had the good parts coming.
The good parts come and the silence is a setup for what God is about to do. Mordecai knew that it's why he was able to stay the course he was able to know I can obey God and leave the house.
Come to him, I can honor the Lord. And I can trust the silence. I can trust in the silence. God uses silence. He uses silence in our life. And it's, it's, it's funny because it can feel like the silence that we go through is such a unique experience. Like you can feel like when God seems distant, it can feel like you're the only one there, right? Like today we're singing spirit lead me and everyone's got their hands up. And we're all like, Oh, it's so emotional, right? And you can feel like you're the only one who's not really there. Because it doesn't feel like the spirits leading you. And it doesn't feel like he's close. And you're like, step out on the water here. Right? Like, um, no, no, because it feels like you're, you're distant and God feels quiet. And it can feel so unique because you look around the room, and everybody seems to be so much farther ahead of you. Which by the way, can I just say something real, real quick. There's not a perfect person in this church. Like, the
this is one tagline that churches sometimes use. And I think it's funny because it's, I mean, I get what they're trying to say. But it's not really true. whenever they're like, no perfect people are allowed. Well, good because they don't exist.
Of course, they're not allowed because there is no such thing as a perfect person. Right? We're, we are all in process. We're all in the process. So whenever you look around the room, and you feel that and it feels like man, such a unique experience that I feel like God's distant from me.
It's not unique.
God just uses silence sometimes in what feels like, man, God's picking on me, and he's not talking to me. And this must be something about me, man, God just goes quiet. Sometimes he uses silence. So whenever you find yourself in the middle of silent moments, just look around. Ask around, share how you're feeling because I promise you you will be shocked at who is sharing silence with you. You'll be shocked. Because it may be people who you're looking around and you're going, man, they look great. Everything looks awesome. They've got a great family situation. They have a loving marriage, they've got good finances, everything's great. And you have no idea they're going through the same crap you are. God seems quiet. God seems distant. And you have no idea. Do you want to know how I know that? Because Mordecai talks to Esther, and says, Hey, Queen, living up there in your beautiful palace with your people who come in and do your makeup and get you all ready for the day. They give you the choice of food for the day. Hey, Can Can you take a second to remember your people? Because we're about to be killed out here. I don't know if you know that. God seems distant. We need someone to come through for us. Guess Esther's responses.
I know, you may think that you're going through silence alone, Mordecai. I haven't been called on the king and going on a month.
I know things look great. From your perspective. From outside the palace. Things look like man, I'm living the life. But I want to let you know, I might be on the chopping block, I may have lost favor with the king. And by the way, you remember what happened with the last person who lost favor with the king queen, or with the king. They're gone. That's why I'm even here because he kicked the old one out and found a new one. And so you may think that you're the only one going through this silent period of God. But let me tell you, I'm going through it too. You will be shocked, you will be shocked to see the people around you that are going through silence to you will be blown away who's sharing in it, who is everything looks fine, everything looks great. But they're going through a period where God seems quiet as well. And what that is supposed to do for us is exactly what we see happen with Mordecai and Esther, they realize we're both going through the same kind of thing. And so they draw closer to each other. They're talking to each other. That's exactly what God intended for us. You are not supposed to navigate the silence alone. None of us are. We're not supposed to navigate it alone. If you're not a part of a C group yet. Like if you haven't signed up for one of our C groups here quants in our small groups, do it today. You can do it out in the lobby. You can go online Cornerstone Church dot-info, you can sign up for a C group, get your butt in the community like I can't. I can't say it any stronger without having people question my ability to be a pastor anymore, right? But get your button one of these groups because I'm telling you, you will get into these groups and you'll start to realize, Oh, you too. Oh, you too. I thought everybody in here had their stuff together. What a refreshing thing to realize. I'm not the only one who struggles with that. What a refreshing thing to realize, like you're going through that to me we have groups for just about everything. If you're struggling with anxiety we have we have a group for that. If you're Alcoholics Anonymous, we have
Al-Anon we have a group on setting up boundaries in your life. I'm starting a group for guys to just get together here at the church and watch Monday Night Football.
On Monday, it's like, we literally have a group for everything.
And you want to know why we do that. Because once you get in community with each other, you start to realize things about each other, you start to have those Oh, YouTube moments. And you start to realize, hey, okay, I'm not as alone as I thought I was on this stuff. I, maybe I'm the only one who's experiencing silence right now from God. And you know what the cool thing is, not only do you experience and you get to talk to people who are going through the same thing you are, there'll be people in your group or on the other side of it. Be like, man, I was exactly where you are, a few months ago, wondering why God was so quiet, wondering why I wasn't seeing any changes. And let me tell you, he came through for me in such a huge way he came through for me, and I promise you, you keep honoring him, you can trust him in the silence because I am a testimony of what happens when you do that. I've made it through the other side. And I'm telling you, you only hear part of that you only know part of that if you just come on Sundays, and just listen to me. You miss a whole entire other section of that stuff of people who God has shown up for them and delivered them. And they can speak to you. God can speak to you through them through their experiences through what they have been through. So I am telling you to get signed up for a C group if you haven't yet because God speaks in a variety of ways. God uses all of His creation, to speak. I would say this. God isn't really quiet. He just likes to give credit.
He's not quiet. He just spreads it around. Like you thought God was quiet in your life. But he's been talking through your sister. You thought God was quiet in your life. But all of those Facebook posts that pop up on your feed that seem so timely, it's crazy.
Do you think that's a coincidence? That's God, all of these things in your life, you were expecting a Red Sea moment you were expecting to see depart, you were expecting the fire to fall and God saying, Hey, I'm talking to you. It may not look like what you expected. But I'm talking to you. I'm talking you through all these different avenues. I'm not quiet. I just like to include other people. I'm not quiet. I just like to share the credit. I like to spread it around a little bit and get people included in what I'm doing. Think you know how we know that's true. Because we have this.
It's the Christian doctrine. What we believe about the Bible is that the Bible is God's inspired word that he used to communicate to us through a fallen man like God could have if we believe what we say we believe he could have snapped his fingers and a completed Bible could have fallen from the sky down to us. And we could have had it that way. And he could have just avoided any fallen man and our fingerprints on anything. He could have done that. But he didn't want to do that he wanted to partner with us. He wanted to spread the credit around, he wanted to include us in what he is doing. And the same thing is true right now. God is not quiet. He just likes to give credit. God likes to include people and what he is doing. And we see that again, Esther 414. Listen to what Mordecai says to her. And who knows Esther, but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.
He's saying, hey, look, you're probably here because of God. Like the whole reason, you're here is because God is not just wanting to have this big red sea moment where he just blows in the door, and he just has his way. No, God is wanting to bring deliverance. And he's wanting to bring it through you. He's wanting to include you. He's not silent. He's wanting to act and he's wanting to act through you and your life. Perhaps you are here for that exact moment. Perhaps you are here so he can work through you. God works through people. He takes our obedience. And he uses that and he works in silence using our obedience so much of the time, so much of the time, God's hands and God's feet are simply his people being obedient. So that means in your life, you may be looking for a Red Sea moment, you may be looking for a fire to fall from the sky. But instead what you'll get is is your sister talking to you or a Facebook post or something on TV or something that you experience while you're out walking? You know, on a jog or something like that, and God will speak to you through all these different ways because that's how he works. It's always how he's worked. He's worked that way since the beginning. It's why we have the Bible that we have because he wants to include people and man I gotta tell you I have been experiencing this in such a huge way. I'm won't get into it, but I'm going through some stuff right now. Like I'm, I'm going through some stuff and I've had the moments where I'm feeling like, man, like God, are you there? Is this Is this right?
Like, are we doing what we should do? And are we doing what we should do? Because it just feels kind of quiet. And is that you God? Is that you? It's amazing. How if I was just waiting for reading to see moments in these gigantic big loud things that God is doing, how I would miss it. And I probably would think that man, God's just quiet. He's not here. Where is he? God? Where are you like, if that's all that I was looking for, but it is crazy how through all these little outlets through what people have said, not knowing anything from what I've seen on social media, from what people have talked about from things, I can't even tell you how much of this sermon series is speaking to me. Like how much I'm learning from it as I'm studying. Each week. It's crazy. This sermon series was set up over six months ago when what I'm going through right now, I had no idea I'd be dealing with it now. And I kid you not you can look at you could open up my iPad, and look at the date created on this sermon series. I see this thing was set. Six months ago, in what I'm going through right now, it literally could not be more timely, it couldn't be more pertinent. And I see things like that. And I'm like, that is my read, see moment. Like, God doesn't need to yell he is confirming for me time and time and time again, even in what seems like the silence. He's just using a different way. It's not silence. It's God. It's God. And we know that because silence is not absence, right? Just because God is is is silent. It seems that does not mean that he's absent because God uses everything. God uses everything, even things. Genesis tells us even things that the enemy means for evil God uses for good. So everything in all of creation, you heard us talking about that earlier in the service. Everything in creation, including silence, can be used by God, to communicate. That's the mystery and the wonder of God that our God is so incredible that even silence is a communication method for him. Even silence not saying a word, he's able to transform us and bring about the change that we need to have in our life. God uses everything. Just like a symphony. There's not just one instrument in an orchestra. There is a whole suite of French horns and bass and oboe, there are all of these different instruments playing. And in the same way. God uses everything in his creation, everything in the symphony to speak, he uses it. He uses it. He likes to spread the credit around. And so Mordecai, Esther, the Jewish people who they were in the midst of this exile, they're in the midst of this pagan rule under this. King Xerxes having this edict put on their head saying, hey, on this day, it's going to be the end for you, you're going to be executed in the middle of all that and feeling like there was silence from God still in the middle of all that. They were able to have hope. And they were able to have confidence. I mean, listen, again, Mordecai even said, if you don't act, Esther, the deliverance from the Jews will arise from another place. Mordecai is just believing it. He's like, I know this will not end in the eradication of our people because God made us a promise. And he's going to see it through. So I know it's not going to end that way you can have confidence even in the midst of your silence. And that's because God doesn't just speak to us on mountaintop moments, does he?
He speaks to us in the valley. He speaks to us whenever everything seems dark and quiet, and it feels like we're alone. God speaks to us even then. And so that means just like these Jewish people who were in exile, we can have encouragement. Even when we're in exile, we can be encouraged to know You know what, we're not going through this alone. We're not going through this alone. Can I tell you some Cornerstone pastor Brenda would attest to this Cornerstone, we've been around for 40 plus years now. 40 plus years. And some of our best years as a church have been from 2017 on Isn't that right? Pastor Brenda? From all of the meaningful metrics, not just attendance, but the meaningful metrics, people giving their life to Jesus, people becoming ministry partners, people trusting God for their finances, all of those numbers have never been higher. They've never been higher. And for some of you who don't know, because we have so many new faces 2017 The reason that year matters is because that's the year that we lost our old building
that we left our denomination kept it and so we were a people in exile. We were people on a foreign and strange land called Coventry elementary school, right like we were. We were setting that bad boy up and tearing it down every week. And that was a
the nightmare that was a nightmare doing that over and over and over again. But in the midst of that exile in the midst of that silence, where can feel like well, man, look, I mean, they lost their building and who wow just doesn't look good. We had some of the most encouraging days we've ever had as a church, right.
And it's, and it's because the silence is a setup. Because we know from step one, we've been doing everything in our power to honor God. And so in the midst of the silence, we say, Hey, we trust him. Because the good parts come in. We trust him because the good parts come in the silence is just a setup for what God is doing. So even in exile, we can be encouraged is this one I want to close on today, I'm going to skip ahead a few books of Scripture. So we're going to jump from estar to the book of Isaiah, you have to turn there anything. But I just want to read these verses real quick. This is Isaiah 55, the prophet Isaiah, a man that God rose to communicate on his behalf. Isaiah wrote this particular set of verses that we're about to read, he wrote them not too long after the Jewish nation, fell to the Babylonian Empire. So this is right after this nation that God had started and had instituted and said he was going to change the whole world to this nation. That nation had just collapsed, had just collapsed. And this is what Isaiah writes on God, speaking for God, this is what he says, give ear and come to Me Listen, that you may live, I will make an everlasting covenant with you my faithful love promised to David David is King David, one of the greatest leaders in Israel's history. See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and a commander of the People's, surely you will summon nations you don't know in nations you do not know will come running to you because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor. That's what God is saying, to the Jewish nation. He's saying this to Israel. And he's saying it just a couple of years after they fell, the temple was destroyed, and they're being carted off to a pagan land.
And yet, in the middle of it, God is saying, Hey, I don't forget things. I remember what I promised my servant David, and I will see it come to fruition, I'm going to bless the entire world, through you, people will know that you are my people because I will bless the whole world through you. And if you're a Jewish person reading this at that time, you've got to be thinking, How in the world is that? True? We've just lost all of our power, all of our prestige. You seem to be pretty quiet right now. God, how in the world? Are you going to bring that about when everything seems so silent? Right now?
Just a few verses down? This is what God says. And this is the key to it. For my thoughts are not your thoughts.
Neither are my ways, your ways.
As the heavens are higher than the Earth, so are my ways higher than your ways? And my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.
You see, God's method for handling things isn't necessarily ours. It's just not.
I've already told you I've already admitted I hate silence. Jessica, my wife can tell you I still push. I still want to talk because I don't like the silent treatment I want to not talk about I want to talk about right now. That is still me. I hate silence. And so if I had my way, I would never have a silent period. If I had my way. There will never be moments of silence in my life where God seems to go quiet. But you know what? God knows I need it. God knows I need it. Something happens to me. We talked about it last week, right? Avengers endgame if you've seen the movie, the scene where the portal starts opening up, everything seems like the bad guys are gonna win. And Captain America is about to get killed. And it's like, oh my gosh, this is terrible. It's so bad. And the music all gets real low, then starts to build back up. And the whole reason is the whole reason it gets you amped and you want to go fight Thanos to the whole reason that happens is because of the dynamics because the thing builds. After all, there was quiet, because things seem bad. It does something that dynamics, it builds something in you and it makes that part resonate. Like I told you, man, the people in my theater, they were ready to charge the screen when I saw it. One of the nights in the theater mattered because it's it gets you so amped. And the same thing is true in our life during those silent periods. God does something to us. that couldn't happen if it didn't get quiet. It couldn't happen. If we didn't go through a few silent periods. God knows we need it. You don't want silence. God knows you need silence. You don't want it. You want every day to be a mountaintop moment with God every day to be Oh, I'm trusting you Lord, and everything's great. Everything's wonderful. That doesn't happen. It doesn't. And I'll let you know it doesn't happen for the people up here.
On stage either, it doesn't happen for me.
It's just not that way. But even in the moments where they're silenced, even in the moments where you feel confused, and you feel like a man, even in those moments, you can have underlying confidence that knows you know what the good part is going to come. The good part is going to come to this silence is just a setup for what God is doing here. Here's the closing idea for today.
When we do think that God is silent in our lives, what if his silence is his presence showing up in a way we weren't expecting?
Right? We kind of hit on this idea a little bit early. But what if God's silence that we think we're experiencing? It's not he's just showing himself in a way that we weren't looking for? Right? Like, if I'm just looking for those big mountaintop moments, I'm going to miss it. I'm going to miss it. I got to tell you like this, like the sermon series we're talking about I did a seminar yesterday here at Cornerstone we had a mending mindset. It's like a mental health seminar. And the subject that I spoke on yesterday, same thing as this series. I'm not kidding you guys. I can't tell you how weird This is how crazy it is. This is something Debbie ring sent me in an email. One of the ladies on our staff sent me an email asking me to speak asked me to speak on the subject I spoke on yesterday, back in April, like late April.
And what she talked about is exactly what I'm going through right now. The thing that I had to study for the thing that I had to prep for, it's exactly what I'm gonna do. I'm like, This is crazy. This is, this is no coincidence. This is not a coincidence. God is conducting.
It's no coincidence. God is conducting something. And it may mean pastor Brenner is talking about this in-between services.
Whenever the conductor starts to conduct, what's he asked to do? turn his back to the crowd.
Right, turn his back to the crowd. Kudos to pastor Brenda for that.
He turns his back to the crowd. And for a lot of us, it may seem like God's turning his back on us. And while it's so quiet right now, it's so quiet and God's turning his back on us. He's just conducting. He's getting ready to do something in your life. He's getting ready to conduct and you have no idea what he's about to do in your life. So in the middle of the silence, don't lose heart. Stay encouraged, keep encouraged, because he is there. He is there. You just got to start looking for him. You just got to start looking for him. And know that if you are doing everything you can to honor God, you can trust him. Whatever silence comes your way. I'm gonna pray for y'all right? Heavenly Father, man, man, man, man, do I need this sermon today? Thank you so much for your faithfulness, God, you know what we need before we even know it. And it may look like you're being quiet. It may look like you're not there. But my goodness, god are you there? We know that you are always present. Nothing takes you off guard and in our life. You know, everything that's coming our way. Everything that comes our way is filtered through your hands first. So God in the moments whenever we feel like we've been surprised, or we've been taken off guard and you seem to be quiet, help us to remember that you are a conductor and that you are working in our life. And as long as we are obeying you, we can trust the outcome to you. As long as we are following you and honoring you. We can trust you in the silence knowing that you will make all things work together for our good. So God helps us to keep up our end of the bargain. None of us want to be on the hook for our life. None of us want to be on the hook. We don't want our willpower and our strength and our wisdom to be the thing that gets us by in life. God, we're relying on you, we are relying on you. So in the silent moments help us to remember that you are there that we can put our faith and trust in you and that you will see us through. We love you so much father and we pray all this in your name, amen.
