Joseph Prince - Get Ready, God is Positioning You For a Blessing
This is an excerpt from: Where Is God In The Midst Of Your Trouble?
What happens? You still believe God is working behind the scene even when superficially outwardly you see things are going against you and people that not supposed to get promoted get promoted, and then you are told to go. You are retrenched. God has something better for you. You got to believe that. God is positioning you. God is getting you ready, not to face something that company will face or whatever, God is behind the scene and you have favor with God. See, the more you believe that, when it happens, God gets the glory. That's why God wants faith because faith will show God, demonstrate to God on your part, that you will give him the praise and the glory because you're believing God for favor and when it happens, you know who to give glory to. But if you're walking, you know, just natural living after your senses, you don't believe and all that. Even when God does something for you, you don't give him glory. Without faith, it's impossible to please God.
Drop down. "In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasuerus, they cast Pur," Which means the lot. It's like a dice in those days, but they twist the dice. You know have you seen it before? It's called pur when you get the word "Purim". Until today, the Jewish people celebrate Purim as the victory over Haman and how God preserved the Jewish people during the time of Esther. It's the feast of Esther and they celebrate every year. It's called Purim, the plural of pur. Pur is actually the dice or the lot. They twist it around, and you know what they did, Haman did with his men? He said, "Let's find a day to kill them, and I'll recommend to the king".
So, they turned to pur and the pur came to the 13th day. Maybe it's from here that the tradition is that 13 is an evil day but for God's people, an evil day God's gonna turn it to a memorable day, a day of victory, a day you will celebrate. You're about to see that happen, okay? So, it's on the 13th day and it drop down. "The king's scribes were called on the 13th day of the first month, and it was sealed with the king's signet ring sent to all the provinces". Okay, anymore? Drop down to chapter three. Okay, "And the letters were sent by couriers into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day". On the what day? Thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their possessions".
Wah, I didn't tell you this, Haman went to the king and said, "King, I must tell you this, all right, that there is a group of people in your kingdom. I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm very concerned for you, king. You know my heart if for you, right, king? But this bunch of people, they practice their own laws. They don't care about your laws and if they continue, they will spread this message and it will destroy your kingdom. You know it will be no profit to you". And the king says, "Really, what kind of people are these"? "They're the Jewish people. So, I'll tell you what, all right, allow me and my men to annihilate them for you," and they recommend the very day itself, okay? And the king used his signet ring.
One thing about the law of the Persians, you can even read about it in history, in secular history, is that once the law is made, you cannot change it, even the king himself cannot change it. So, the king used his signet ring that was his signature in those days on the clay tablet. Yes, the death sentence is made, women, children, throughout the entire kingdom. During this time in the land of Jerusalem, already the decree has been made. I want to tell y'all this part, okay? The decree has been made by Cyrus which is the predecessors, not the immediate one, but predecessor of Ahasuerus. King Cyrus actually made a decree for all the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem. He said, "Y'all can go back". He permitted them and encouraged them to go because, you know why? His name was prophesied by Isaiah, the prophet, long before he was born, okay? So, the Jews went back among whom are Ezra and Nehemiah.
So, when the story of Esther happened, Ezra and Nehemiah were in Jerusalem. Are you listening? So, when the decree was made to destroy everyone in the kingdom, Judea at that time, Israel at that time, was under the kingdom of Persia, which means Ezra and Nehemiah will also be destroyed and all the people that came back. Now question is asked, how come Mordecai and Esther all stayed back? The question is not told us. Maybe the Lord told them to stay back. So, this is the story that's happening. So, you didn't know the timing, okay? Which means all that remnant that came back, they'll also be destroyed but long before that happened, God prepared someone in the palace.
Isn't it amazing that God prepared Moses in the palace of Pharaoh? Small things, small things happen and God can, you know? A baby crying, who would expect the daughter of Pharaoh bathing one day, all right, saw a basket. She opened up, a baby crying will change the entire destiny of a nation. Turned her heart the moment she said no and pushed the baby back, it's finished. God with can work with smallest of things. And because we are proud preachers, okay, myself, me and Mark, okay? We are proud people. Many a times we look for the big, big things. We miss out on the small, small things that God is doing in our life, but God can use the very small things to change things in your favor. A baby crying, a woman's anger, temper, Vashti and then God deposed. God can work through all these things. God will make the wrath of man to praise him. I think that Psalms we have the verse up here. It says, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise you; with the reminder of wrath you shall gird yourself". You know what it means or not? Even when man is angry towards God, man is angry towards his children, God can use the wrath of man to praise him. You'll see it. And whatever wrath is remained, God will use to gird himself, clothe himself, hallelujah.
So, back to Esther again. So, the day has been set. Are y'all with me so far? What's gonna happen? Then the next chapter, chapter 4, tells us Mordecai was weeping in sackcloth and ashes and he heard the decree and he sent a message. He didn't have access to the palace, and Esther was in the palace so he sent a message through a messenger to Esther saying, let's follow what he said. "If you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this"?
Can I say this to you? If God allows us to be used in doing something, consider it a privilege because, you know what? Help will still come from somewhere. If you don't want to do the job, all right, can I say this? God is not hard up. When God tells you do something, he's planning for you to get blessed. He's positioning you. Of all the boats, I mean, I mean, Peter is not the only one with a boat on the Lake of Galilee. There are other boats as well, but when Jesus stepped in this boat and Jesus said, "Can I borrow your boat to preach to the people"? That is wasted time, right? In a sense, quote unquote, "wasted" because the fisherman could use it for fishing. Like if you think tonight is wasted time, let me tell you this, waiting on the Lord is never wasted time because they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Even the youths shall faint and the young man shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord will mount up with wings as eagles. Run and not be weary? Wah, what is that? Walk and not faint. The secret is waiting upon the Lord.
So, let the Lord have it, amen? After the Lord finished preaching, the Lord says, "Peter let's go fishing". Peter said, "No, no". "Let's go fishing". And he gave him what? A net-breaking boat-sinking load of fishes. He's a good pay master. Now, imagine if he went with someone else's boat, the person with the recipe of all the blessings. When the Lord tells you to do something, he's positioning you. It's a privilege because if you don't, relief and enlargement will come from another place. And who is to say whether you came to the kingdom for such a time as this, amen? "Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai".
I always believe there are leaders there sitting down there because they don't want to give up something or whatever it is when, you know, they sit down. And they're seeing other people with the kind of blessing that they could have had, with the kind of anointing and calling that they could have had, but they said no to God and that person said yes and the person got what you're supposed to get. There's some things that God rewards, something all of us can have by grace through faith, but there are some things he give you the grace, it can be in vain if you don't use it. But if you use it, he'll reward you for using the grace he first gave you. That's called reward.