Pathways: From Providence to Purpose

by Tony Evans

The last verse of Esther chapter 8 ends with this, “And many of the ethnic groups of the land professed themselves to be Jews because fear of the Jews had overcome them” (v. 17).

Sometimes God allows you to be put in a negative or difficult situation so that He can give you a supernatural deliverance in order that others will witness it and come to Him.

Just like a diamond glistens most brightly when placed on the backdrop of darkness, God’s glory displays brightly as He brings about divine reversals.

But when you discern how to view life with a kingdom perspective, you will recognize the upside to every difficulty you face. With God, there is always an upside. A challenge is simply an opportunity for Him to showcase His power and might in your life.

Realizing the supreme sovereignty of God will free you from living with frustration, anxiety, and confusion.

The problems in connecting with God’s providence arise when we become alarmed by life’s adverse circumstances and situations. When we start hollering, moving, jumping, running, and ducking due to the fears and frets around us, we are unable to hear that still, small voice of the Spirit and embrace oneness with Him.

The king’s command and law went into effect on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month Adar. On the day when the Jews’ enemies had hoped to overpower them, just the opposite happened. The Jews overpowered those who hated them. In each of King Ahasuerus’s provinces the Jews assembled in their cities to attack those who intended to harm them. Not a single person could withstand them; fear of them fell on every nationality. (vv. 1–2)

He makes things worse to show how big a deliverer He can be. He does it with different strokes for different folks, and His ways are rarely repetitive in nature. But when you cannot trust what you see, you must always trust what you know.

Esther 9:4 that, “For Mordecai exercised great power in the palace, and his fame spread throughout the provinces as he became more and more powerful.”

You must do what Ephesians 6:10–18 calls us to do in putting on the full armor of God as your weapons of warfare.

Because as long as you are operating within the will of God based on the Word of God, you are situated to see God move providentially in your circumstances. The point being: You must be moving too.

When you don’t cut a sin off completely in your personal life, you leave the door open for that cancer to grow, spread, and take over. Whatever you leave behind can later manifest itself and destroy you.

God is no respecter of persons, nor gender, when it comes to accomplishing His plan and purposes; He positions and empowers the people through whom He will accomplish His will.

Queen Esther, daughter of Abihail, along with Mordecai the Jew, wrote this second letter with full authority to confirm the letter about Purim. He sent letters with assurances of peace and security to all the Jews who were in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in order to confirm these days of Purim at their proper time just as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had established them and just as they had committed themselves and their descendants to the practices of fasting and lamentation. So Esther’s command confirmed these customs of Purim, which were then written into the record. (Esther 9:29–32)

The story of Esther reminds us that sovereignty is stronger than human strategy, and that providence overrules mankind’s plans.

A person’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps. (Prov. 16:9)

“Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and no one is like me. I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: my plan will take place, and I will do all my will.” (Isa. 46:9–10)

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Rom. 8:28 nasb)

All the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing, and he does what he wants with the army of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. There is no one who can block his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” (Dan. 4:35)

Who is there who speaks and it happens, unless the Lord has ordained it? (Lam. 3:37)

The Lord has prepared everything for his purpose—even the wicked for the day of disaster. (Prov. 16:4)

“Look, I am the Lord, the God over every creature. Is anything too difficult for me?” (Jer. 32:27)

“I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago that which is not yet done, saying: my plan will take place, and I will do all my will.” (Isa. 46:10)

For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through him and for him. (Col. 1:16)

Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are his. Whatever he tears down cannot be rebuilt; whoever he imprisons cannot be released. (Job 12:13–14)

“Wisdom and strength belong to God; counsel and understanding are his. Whatever he tears down cannot be rebuilt; whoever he imprisons cannot be released. When he withholds water, everything dries up, and when he releases it, it destroys the land. True wisdom and power belong to him. The deceived and the deceiver are his.” (Job 12:13–16)

All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (John 1:3–4)

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so my word that comes from my mouth will not return to me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do.” (Isa. 55:8–11)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it. (John 1:1–5)

But we do see Jesus—made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone—crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death. (Heb. 2:9)

For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures. (Rom. 15:4)

Keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb. 12:2)

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast. (Eph. 2:8–9)

“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.” (John 15:5)

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the wo...

The unifying central theme throughout the Bible is the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom. The conjoining thread from Genesis to Revelation—from beginning to end—is focused on one thing: God’s glory through advancing God’s kingdom.

The absence of the kingdom’s influence in our personal and family lives, churches and communities has led to a deterioration in our world of immense proportions: People live segmented, compartmentalized lives because they lack God’s kingdom worldview. Families disintegrate because they exist for their own satisfaction rather than for the kingdom. Churches are limited in the scope of their impact because they fail to comprehend that the goal of the church is not the church itself but the kingdom. Communities have nowhere to turn to find real solutions for real people who have real problems because the church has become divided, in-grown, and unable to transform the cultural landscape in any relevant way.