Fearfully & Wonderfully Made

Purim and the reading of the story of Esther provides us so many amazing insights into how Yehovah works.  Somehow he combines his sovereignty with who he’s made us to be and invites us to participate with him in creating a masterpiece.

I spent nearly a year in Denmark.  While I was there, I learned to knit. It was a national pastime.  I used simple patterns and large needles to keep it simple, but the Danes have no problem following complicated patterns, with different sizes of needles, different yarns woven together, various types of stitches just to make it pretty.  It’s complicated, and it’s beautiful!  There’s no limit to the variations.

With that in mind, look at Psalm 139:

“¹³For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  ¹⁴I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. ¹⁵My frame was not hidden from you  when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.  ¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book  before one of them came to be.”

Wow! So not only did he knit you together beautifully with a complicated and unique pattern, but he created every day that you would live – ordained, formed, planned, devised. There are no pointless days in your life, no random or wasted days. But every day is a day that Yehovah has purposed for you.

Perfectly Timed

The story of Esther is like that. It is knitted and woven together so intricately and everything is perfectly timed.

Look at the first chapter of Esther.

Esther 1:1-14

“This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Cush: ² At that time King Xerxes reigned from his royal throne in the citadel of Susa, ³ and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the provinces were present. ⁴ For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. ⁵ When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa. ⁶ The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones. ⁷ Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king’s liberality. ⁸ By the king’s command each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, for the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man what he wished. ⁹ Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.  ¹⁰ On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Karkas— ¹¹ to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. ¹² But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger. ¹³ Since it was customary for the king to consult experts in matters of law and justice, he spoke with the wise men who understood the times ¹⁴ and were closest to the king—Karshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memukan, the seven nobles of Persia and Media who had special access to the king and were highest in the kingdom.”

There are so many details about the timing of things in this story.  So far we have:

• 127 provinces
• The 3rd year of Xerxes’ reign
• A 180-day banquet  
• A 7-day banquet with an all-you-can-drink policy.  
• The 7th day
• His 7 officers  
• His 7 vice regents

And that’s just the first 14 verses. The story continues like this with specific dates, specific days, specific numbers of things and very specific timing.

We don’t necessarily need all this detail to understand the story.  Could it be that Yehovah has included this amount of detail in this story to reveal more of himself to us?  Two things that he shows us about himself in this story with regard to timing are that:

1) God is in the details, and
2) Timing matters  

There are so many places in this story for “what ifs.” What if Esther wasn’t in a place of influence at this exact time? What if she had not have acted? What if Mordecai hadn’t overheard the plans to kill the king? What if the king had not had not read the annals when he couldn’t sleep, or started reading a different part of the annals?

We could go on and on with all of the intricate details of how all of this came about, all of the things that were perfectly timed in this story.  The God-incidences in this story are undeniable and miraculous.  Each strand has to be woven together exactly perfectly to have its intended result.

The story also has a famous verse in which Mordecai tells Esther, “if you fail to speak up now, relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from a different source.” (Esther 4:14)  So, we know that Yehovah planned to deliver the Jews whether Esther cooperated or not.  But this is how it is in our lives.  Some situations may be in the making for years before every detail is set perfectly in place, the timing of everything being perfectly choreographed to bring about Yehovah’s will.

Esther could have declined to act. Even with all of that set up for several years, Yehovah still gave her free will to participate or not.  But at some point someone has to hear the call, obey the instruction and take action in order to participate in what God has set up.

What If…?

Here’s another “what if”… What if this is what’s going in our lives right now?  What if the timing of every single thing that is happening in our lives — and has been happening for years — is a major set up for bringing his will?  What if everything that’s happened up to this point is for such a time as this?

Are we paying attention? Are we seeking and hearing his voice?  Are we looking at things with a kingdom perspective? “Lord, what do you have in mind for this?” “What are you trying to do here?” And in Esther’s story, it’s in the midst of extreme despair.  Can we still hear him and believe him when we feel most defeated, or discouraged, fearful or hopeless? This may be part of the set up. Maybe God wants to do something fantastic! I like to think of it as, “the bigger the mystery is, the bigger the miracle will be.”

This takes practice and discipline. We need to be in the habit of looking at things with a kingdom perspective, so that we don’t miss it, so that we don’t panic when difficulty arises. 

Instead of thinking of what we’d like to do, we think about what he would like to do.  Then once we understand that, can we harness our own will to pursue what we’re hearing instead of our own agenda? Can we control our own reactions or impulses and respond with his heart, instead? It’s not our natural inclination.

If we’re following and hearing the Spirit, we are where we are at every moment for a reason. And the things happening around us are ordained for a reason.

A Divine Invitation

But participating with Yehovah’s will is not required in order to get to heaven.  It’s not even required for him to bring his will on Earth, because we know he can do that any number of ways.  But Yehovah has put his Holy Spirit within us so that he can invite us to participate with him in his plans and in bringing his will on Earth.

Remember John 15:15 tells us that he “…no longer calls us slaves, because we know our Master’s business.  He calls us friends because his Spirit makes the Father’s heart known to us.”

That would not have been required in order for salvation.  This is only required if we want to take on his Spirit and participate in the Master’s business.

We also know that Yehovah uses completely unaware people.  How much more can those of us who are aware and are intentional about following his leading be used for his purposes?

What we’re invited into is a supernatural gift, a divine invitation.

Knitting Together the Body

Now consider Ephesians 2:10:

“For we are his workmanship, created in Yeshua for good works, which Yehovah prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

So we were each created for specific good works that were prepared ahead of time for us.

And 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 tells us:

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Messiah. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.”

Each of us was intended to play a different part in Yehovah’s masterpiece.  He weaves together the good works he’s prepared for all of us, and the specific days he has ordained for us.  When we are each listening to his Spirit and choosing to participate with him, together we bring his will on earth. We are like a symphony of beautiful music, each playing our part and carrying out Yehovah’s perfectly choreographed plan.

Think about that as you watch this amazing demonstration of this concept.

Talk about perfectly choreographed! That may be what we look like to Yehovah when we’re all fulfilling the days he ordained for us!

Hevesh, is a young, probably brilliant girl who created that, built it and pulled it off perfectly.  If she can figure out how to get 32,000 little dominos in all their various colors lined up so perfectly to make that amazing puzzle, how much more capable is Yehovah to set us up in perfect alignment to accomplish his plans? We are his domino effect. From his vantage point, when we’re all hearing him and saying “yes” to his invitation to participate, it’s a masterful mosaic!

That’s what we see in the story of Esther.  When we are obedient, Yehovah weaves everything you are and everything you have together with other peoples’ gifts and even things that were meant for evil, and perfectly choreographs it to bring his end result. Say, “Yes!”