Rich Wilkerson Jr — Book Of Esther: When Opportunity Knocks

today at an Esther chapter two is where I want you to turn we are starting 21 days of prayer and fasting tomorrow every day at 12 p.m. we'll be jumping on Instagram live prayer meetings on Wednesday night man so many cool things taking place and before we get to any of that let's look at God's Word the day I'm going to be 9 verses for you you can handle it if you didn't bring a Bible I got it up here on the screen Esther chapter 2 verse 1 it says later when Kings are seized everyone say Xerces fury had subsided he remembered Vashti everyone say Vashti and what she had done and what he had decreed about her then the King's personal attendants proposed let's let us search be made for a beautiful young virgins for the King let the King appoint commissioners in every province of his realm to bring all these beautiful young women into the harem at the Citadel of suzhou let them be placed under the care of Haggai the Kings eunuch who is in charge of the women and let beauty treatments be given to them then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti this advice appealed to the king and he followed it now there was in the Citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin named Mordecai everyone say Mordecai son of Gyre the son of Shammi the son of Kish who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon among those taken captive with jeho c'n king of Judah Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother this young woman who was also known as Esther everyone say Esther had a lovely figure and was beautiful Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died when the king's orders when the king's order an edict had been proclaimed many young women who were brought to the citadel of Susa and put under the care of hegai esther also was taken to the king's palace and entrusted to head guy who had charge of the harem she pleased him and won his favor immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food he assigned to her seven female attendants selected from the king's palace and moved her and her attendants in the best place in The Herald I'll talk for a few moments say on the first Sunday of the new year I want to preach from this thought when opportunity knocks when opportunity knocks and would you pray with me today as we ask God to speak to us all over this room oh we thank you so much for what you're doing in our community thank you so much for our church Lord today lord I pray that we would see Jesus in a fresh way what I pray from the sinner to the saint from the doubter to the believer and everybody in between God that today as we start this new year that we would do so Lord with a desire to hear your voice so we surrender our will over to yours and we ask that you would speak clearly to us have your way in this place we love you we praise you and if you believe it come on all of God's people said all of God's people said come on if you love Jesus food Church can we make a little bit of noise at the 12:15 service [Applause] anybody got any New Year's resolutions out there seven of us praise God okay you know I really like New Year's resolutions some people can be so negative about the new year we'll see if you're still doing those things come March yeah I don't like that attitude I think a little bit of hope is better than no hope and I love a desire to improve and to get better and you know every year I always always named my ears I try to put a theme to my year last year I the year of discipline but this year I really felt led to name my year the year of intention I want to be intentional with everything that God's given me with my relationships with my finances with my talents with my gifts with my time I want to make sure that I'm placing those things in the right spaces and I do have some New Year's resolutions I've got lots of different ones and lots of different goals but but a couple this is the year that I want to learn how to DJ I want to be intentional about it don't hate the player hate the game yo DJ Richie Rich on the ones and twos I'm coming at you I will light up any party I do birthdays bar mitzvahs and everything in between okay um also here's a big one I want to start this I'm nervous to say this because like I know like once I put it out there like I'm gonna bail these accountability partners which is fun um I want to start learning Spanish [Applause] olá for all the non Spanish speakers that's hello in Spanish I'm pretty excited because we actually tonight our 6:00 p.m. for the first time ever are launching we've had Spanish translation the 10:00 a.m. and the 12:15 but tonight for the first time ever now the 6:00 p.m. mayhem service has Spanish translation as well I don't know what your goals are and I don't know what your objectives are but I have this sense today as we kick off this new year that this year it doesn't have to look like last year I even have this sense and some of you tonight today can you can even hear a sense there's a there's a knock it's the knock of opportunity that God wants to provide some new opportunities that God wants to do some new things in your life some things that you've been believing for some things that you've been hoping for God has some opportunities that await you in 2019 and today we're kicking off a brand new collection it's called for such a time as this and it's based on the book of Esther and so you've come on a good day because we are kicking off 5 weeks the last two years January 2017 we started a life of Jonah January of 2018 we said a life of Joseph but I felt a sense in 2019 that we needed to study a woman of God [Applause] and if you are unfamiliar with the book of Esther if you've never heard her story I am telling you what this is a true Cinderella story you might see some good movies in 2019 but not one of them will come close to comparing with Esther I just wish that the writers over at Disney would start reading the Bible because there is not a shortage of content or a shortage of stories but rather there's simply a shortage of artists who are willing to tell the world the greatest stories that are still yet to be shared because this story has it all this is a real rags to riches saga a Jewish orphan girl who actually gets promoted to being queen of a superpower who saves her life but not just her own life saves her people's life I'm telling you Ariel Nala Jasmine even Luana have nothing on Esther I love you this woman is not just a fairy tale she's actually a part of history and honestly in so many ways as you start to study her life and as we start to observe it you're gonna discover that so much of her legacy is about life and liberty for the next five weeks we're gonna dive deep into this book and we're gonna begin to observe her and see what we can learn from her we're even gonna find that Jesus we see signs and we see shadows and we see a trace of him even in this book only two books in the Bible named after a woman this is one of them yet where Esther really sets itself apart from all 66 books in the Bible unlike any other book in the Bible the book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not mention God unlike all the other books this one book you'll never hear his name and you'll never even hear reference to him and although he isn't mentioned what you will discover is that his fingerprints are all over you say rich why would God allow a book to be in his book understand the Bible is God's and if I had my own book about me I think I'd want every book about me to be about me yet God allows this book to be in the Bible and we must ask ourselves the question why is this book in the Bible if it doesn't mention God why would God allow this why would God want a book in there that doesn't talk about him and I think the reason why God wants this book in the Bible is there will come moments in life where God is nowhere to be found maybe some of you today you're very mature at our 12:15 service in your second always since God well live a little longer there's gonna come moments well you're saying yo God where are you at I don't feel you I don't sense you I don't hear you where are you at God I just want to sense you God are you actually even there have you found yourself in a position where you're judging God has God ever misbehaved God why did you do what I wanted you to do and God if you're good why does that this bad stuff keep happening God why do you allow this and God why did that happen and why did that person leave me and how come that person cursed me and how come that person died and why is there so much bad god I do not understand where are you God you appear to be invisible yet it's this invisible miss that I think God wants us to learn through the book of Esther in fact there's a theological term that has to do with God's invisible miss the word is Providence everyone say Providence Providence here's a good working definition as we start to dive into this today Providence is this is God's faithful activity throughout history to provide for his creation and accomplish his will you see God oftentimes will be in the background controlling the foreground there will come moments in life where it seems like God is not around but you must trust in God's providence that he is in control this past summer we took 8 weeks studying the book of Romans and we were all up in that book and one of the theological words that we all learned as a church was this word called sovereign that God is sovereign and ultimately what that means that God is in control this should be encouraging for you as you step into 2019 that nothing surprises God nothing shocks God God is not up in heaven worried about what you're worried about all the political climate oh my goodness the economy I don't know like God doesn't get surprised has it ever occurred to you that nothing has ever occurred to God God is sovereign yet sovereign and his sovereignty is all about what he wants to happen Providence is all about how he makes it happen I believe that Esther is in the Bible because there will come moments on your faith journey where you cannot trace God but you have to learn how to trust God and there will come these moments in life where it doesn't seem like God is on the scene but you have to have a firm belief that he is in the background controlling every piece of the puzzle even when you can't feel him you can still learn to have faith in Him even when it appears like he's absent you can rest assured that he is present and even while you're waiting on God you can know that he is working it out for the good of those that have put their trust in him I wish I could get a witness at 12:15 come on somebody give God a shout of praise God is he's at work he's a providential God he's providing for his people many times he's in the background today as we kind of start to read through Esther chapter 2 I think it's important that we understand what happened in Esther chapter 1 and tomorrow you're gonna begin reading this book of the Bible in fact that's what your Bible journal is all about if you're watching online if you're participating through podcast or through youtube go to vous Church calm and you can download your own copy as well but our goal is to give you reading each day from this book that you would start to observe it and start to apply it to your life now we got some mature Christians and you're like the reading is not enough there should be more reading listen ain't nobody stopping you from consuming more of the Bible we're just trying to teach some people in this room how to eat in 2019 because they never even opened the Bible so read all you want read ahead ten times over but today I want to read from ask everyone this is gonna be your reading tomorrow just cuz I'm reading it now doesn't need doesn't mean that you should not read it again tomorrow okay the Bible is cool you read it it reads you you read it you get something new all the time okay Esther chapter one let's just put this into context this is what happened during the time of oh come on this is a participation this is like this is vu kids for adults okay here we go this is what happened during the time of Circe's like that the who ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to cush at that time King Xerces reigned from his royal throne in the Citadel Sousou and in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all of his nobles and officials the military leaders of Persia and media now we got a stop sir seize if you haven't picked up yet is a king it's his third year of reigning as king now he is the king of Persia it's important that you understand the timeline of history of this around 483 BC and what's taking place as we know is that the Jews they have been conquered and they have been exiled to live underneath the Babylonians in his Syrians that the Persian army and Kingdom and this is where we start to read stories about like Dan vebber Dan on the Lions Den that was under Darius and remember Shadrach Meshach and Abednego they wouldn't bow to King Nebuchadnezzar is graven image we start to read these stories but also this right now book of Esther is right around the same time as Nehemiah and Ezra those are two other books in the Bible Ezra was led out of the Persian Empire to go and start to rebuild the temple Nehemiah led a group of people out of Persia to go and rebuild the walls now what's happened is we're gonna meet this character named Esther she has stayed back she has not gone with some of the Jewish people that have left the remnant that have left and now what's happening is that this this king of Persia he's throwing a party we're gonna read about the princes and the nobles of the provinces were present for a full hundred and eighty days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty now when these days were over the king gave a banquet lasting seven days ain't no party like a Persian party because a Persian party last seven days what are you doing it's Tuesday 9 a.m. I'm partying that's what they're doing okay 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 so I just want you to see what's taking place King Xerxes in charge he's leading the Persian Empire is a world dominating power I mean they're in charge of everything xur sees is the most powerful man in the world he has a wife she's the queen her name is Vashti the scripture says for 180 days he displays all of his power and all of his majesty and to end those 180 days he caps off with a 7-day rager and as you read it this week in Esther chapter 1 this rage I mean it goes into detail like what they're doing like this is a party of real opulence it goes into detail that everybody that was drinking wine not one person had a golden goblet that looked like the other person details and opulence and wealth and the scripture says that that Xerces had a rule that if you were thirsty you could drink as much as you wanted so there was no breathalyzers there's no duis they could just go for it they're on the seventh day of the party s chapter one and Circe's the scripture says his spirits are high on wine he calls for Vashti to come in to the party now scripture will tell us that Vashti is throwing her own party with her own friends we'll save it for February but marriage advice when you don't party together things are bound to break okay so they're throwing their own parties and he calls on magic a girl get up here I'm throwing party I want you I want to run to see you is she's like no no you know not doing that so Circe's gets mad like what do you guys do when they get mad at girls they don't talk to girls they'd go talk to their buddies about it right he gets all the advices like yo this is a big deal this girl she won't she won't come up here what you think I should do and this man now is drunk on wine at seven days a party and his advisers like wool this is a real big problem he's like what's the problem they said well this is not just a problem for you this is problem for us he said how do you how do you figure they said well if Vashti can disobey you that means our wives can disobey us pull the girls in the house like you know it stop stop they said we had an idea let's do this let's set a decree that Vashti can never come back into your presence again but let's take it a step further let's make sure that every Persian wife must know that she has to obey to her Persian husband dudes like that sounds like a good idea I've been drinking for seven days why don't I make a huge relationship decision right now once again we'll save it for February we'll talk all about it he banishes her and he puts this rule in the land that every woman must obey their husband or some dudes you're like yo my ass good news shut up okay and out of that as we get into a street chapter two what we find out is that these advisors that come back with another planet say how about this let's not stop there let's throw the biggest beauty pageant the world has ever seen and let's go and find you a brand new queen and would you believe it out of every woman living in that time period they find a Jewish girl they don't know she's Jewish her name is Esther she is an orphan both of her parents have died and she is selected because of favor on her life and she steps out of the lowest social class in history and she steps in as a super world power all because of a god opportunity come on somebody give God a shout of praise I think there's I think there's some knocking in 2019 yet one of the most critical things that you must learn how to do as a believer is you must learn how to differentiate between good opportunities and God opportunities in fact not every opportunity is the right opportunity not every open door is a door that you should walk through we live in a world right now that if it's quick immediate and fast it must be good not necessarily true in fact today I want to help you because I believe opportunity is going to knock and is knocking for many of in this room but I believe from Esther chapter 1 in verse 2 we can learn how to differentiate between just good opportunities and God opportunities wanted to give you four basic thoughts that I see in the text I want you to write these down number one God opportunities are disguised as obstacles this is important that you get this I have discovered in my life over and over again that so often the god opportunities that God provides for me they come wrapped up in the form of an obstacle we see this in Esther's life because it's fun to talk about her being Queen it's fun to talk about her being a big deal but please do not miss the facts she was an orphan both of her parents died talk about a setback talk about pain talk about heartache not just that she was a slave living in another land she was a woman of God living and operating in a heathen Kingdom these are obstacles that she starts her journey with it's so often what happens to us in life as many of us were so focused on what's already happened in life that we miss out on what could happen in life too many of us we are fixated on the challenges that await us but listen to me every god opportunity is gonna come laced with obstacles why are you surprised that there's a headwind as you're stepping into your future it's just important that you see this because over and over again what we learn as believers is that our mission has to be bigger than our sorrows and every one of your deficiencies should not stop you for being efficient for God doesn't stop you it doesn't hold you back I'm telling you opportunity is knocking but many in this room you're too busy complaining about the noise my marriage will never get better I'm always overlooked nobody gives me opportunities I've been working this same job for years I'm never gonna get promoted and everything that's coming out of your mouth is designing the future that you will currently and continue to live in because you don't understand that when God provides an opportunity he disguises it in an obstacle because the question is can you handle the obstacle because if you can handle the obstacle he can provide you with the opportunity when Steven Spielberg was making the movie Jaws if you never saw jaws jaws is about a shark and then this big huge mechanical shark and the first day they started to shoot the shark a problem happened that the shark if it malfunctioned and it broke and it sunk to the bottom of the ocean it was an obstacle oh my goodness I think I think the movie is over the whole movie is about a shark but Steven Spielberg he stepped back from the scene he went back to the drawing board and said maybe there is an opportunity listen to me some of you you went through real pain in 2018 if you will stop and pause you can even discover a purpose in your pain then went back to the drawing board they said no maybe there's something more to this whole no shark thing and said you know we're gonna do this we're gonna do we're gonna create curiosity and we're gonna create fear in the audience by by using sound design and by only giving glimpses of the shark the movie Jaws went on to be one of the biggest movies of all time and it's set up Steven Spielberg's career but not only that in film school today people study his technique in his art form it was one of the greatest opportunities provided for him but it all began with a massive obstacle Esther she has huge opportunities and the door was knocking but she had to decide in her life I'm not gonna sit here and complain about the noise I'm going to get to work Thomas Edison said it this way he said so many people miss opportunities because when opportunities show up they're dressed in overalls and they look like work who told you it was gonna be easy I'm not saying it's gonna be easy in 2019 I'm telling you that the door is knocking and there are God opportunities awaiting you some of us were complaining about the obstacles in our business let me tell you the obstacles in your business are actually opportunities for you to be more profitable than ever something like the obstacles of my marriage every obstacle in your marriage I promise you is actually an opportunity for you to go to a deeper level of intimacy with your spouse every obstacle in your leadership is actually an opportunity for you to step into promotion don't run from the problem choose to solve the problem today God is knocking on the door of your life come on somebody give God a shout of praise [Applause] number two as opportunities are delivered through people opportunities are delivered through people 99% of the time when God provides you with an opportunity he will bring you the opportunity through a person this past Christmas my wife and I we went to Shreveport Louisiana and we were there with her family and as we were leaving kind of in a hustle dontrey accidentally left her laptop back in Shreveport her parents had to FedEx her laptop they were sending the laptop but FedEx was the delivery agent make no mistake about it every opportunity is sent by God James says that he is the father of good gifts so God is the sender but when God sends people a gift and when God sends people an opportunity more often than not he will deliver the opportunity in the form of a person look at her story yeah like she goes from being an orphan girl in the streets to becoming queen of Persia had it happened because Xerces chose her God was sending the opportunity but Xerces delivered the opportunity so I think the Church of Jesus Christ so often were really good at being known for burning bridges but we have been forgiven of so much should be the best people on the planet of building the biggest bridges not with just those that believe and think like us but even those that are far from God for God used a secular King to provide for Esther as we read on the story you're gonna find out more and more that Esther it's not just Circe's that's delivering opportunities it's her cousin Mordecai Mordecai will counsel her and advise her over and over and over again and as he does opportunities will continue to flow you say rich what are you trying to say what I want to get into your spirit today is this is that alignment is more important than assignment so who are you aligned with in 2019 who have you positioned in your life I'm excited about this week tomorrow we kick off 132 vu cruise happening all over Miami and Fort Lauderdale come on church let's put our hands gonna thank God for His Providence in our church but but vu crews are all about aligning ourselves with the right people if you want to go deeper in your spiritual walk in 2019 you're not gonna get deep going alone well yes I can you'll be the first ever to do it God gives us people to sharpen us to challenge us I'm excited because in September we announced about our vision Sunday that our theme is stand firm and we gave our vision board some things that want to do in the last couple weeks you've been bringing your finances and your dollars to help accelerate that vision one of the things on the vision board is that we want to launch a youth ministry because we want to actually impact the next generation and I'm so pumped because this Thursday we're launching for the first time ever for vous high cruise for junior highers and high schoolers and I love it because yeah we're gonna do big gatherings for youth but we actually believe before we get into a big event in a big gathering what our young people need is proper alignment because as they get into Cruz and as they meet with other people that are like-minded of the same faith God is going to deliver opportunities to them over and over and over again come on does anybody sense that opportunity is knocking go ahead and give God some praise the third thing that I see from Esther and Esther one and two is this is that opportunities widen for those who patiently prepare this is the one where I really get rowdy and I apologize if you're not a part of our church but it's just this is this stuff right here man it's wild because one of the mistakes that we make as believers is when we read the Bible we think the Bible occurs in the same amount of speed as it takes for us to read it so this week you're gonna read Esther chapter 1 and that might take you honestly 6 minutes if you just sat down and read it you could ask Stephanie like oh my goodness that was so quick but real life is not a Disney fairy tale real life is not an hour in 20 minutes with a great plot and some twists and turns and a climax and a resolution it's not real life real life unfolds and there's a process too and it requires patience we know that in Esther chapter 1 that it was the third year of King Xerxes reign but in Esther chapter 2 look at what happens Esther chapter 2 we read it this way she was taken Esther to King Xerxes in the royal residence in the 10th month the month of Tibet in the seventh year of his reign three years to seven years being four years from Esther 1 to Esther chapter 2 now the king was attracted to Esther more than any of the other women and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins so he set a world crown on her head and made her Queen instead of Vashti so watch this it's been four years since Circe's has gotten upset with Vashti it's been four years since they started the big beauty pageant not only has it been for years when Esther was brought into the harem to be under the power and control and the leadership of Haggai she had to take a full year of prep raishin before she ever even met Circe's that's a lot of spa treatments a lot of manicures in that time period but before she even met the king she had to prepare an entire year to even meet him some of you last year you got a God dream in 2018 and for some reason it's been 12 months and because it's been 12 months you are actually declaring out loud I guess the dream wasn't real but don't you know that the bigger the promise the more time you have to wait time doesn't disqualify the promise it validates the promise we have to learn patience oh what a drag patience is a virtue your ability to wait matters yet patience is not the ability to wait patience is the ability to wait with the right attitude because you go away one way or another the question is will you be patient while you wait and will you choose the right spirit in all seasons whether you're prospering or whether you're in LAC whether you're on the mountaintop or whether you are in the valley some of you in 2019 are gonna be real radical for Jesus and even right now you're being tempted God make me patient be careful because when you ask God to make you patient the only way he can make you patient is he has to test you so get ready for traffic life is full of traffic in how you wait in life's traffic will determine the level of opportunity you can handle are you prepared for God to give you the opportunity you've been dreaming about will you be ready if God knocks on your door because when God knocks on your door with a god opportunity you can't be like yo come back later I'm not ready right now all right I'll find somebody else that's what God does that sense it my spirit today you should be living like God is already doing what you are waiting for you should be living like God is already doing what you are waiting for what are you waiting for you should be behaving like you already got it some of your like y'all I'm gonna have peace once I get married no you won't I'm gonna get confidence once they promote me at work no you won't I will live on mission once I graduate from college no you won't I will speak faith once I get my miracle that's the opposite of faith you should be living like God is already doing what you are waiting for if you stay ready you don't have to get ready [Applause] and have you ever had an appointment that someone was picking you up for and they knocked on your door when they knocked on your door you were ready to go it's my year of intention so let me just be honest and transparent I travel quite a bit and I find myself speaking at different things and our team is so generous and so kind to me that different guys in our church will pick me up and take me the airport and the people in the driving team that help me get to the places I need to get to they know that if it's a 5 a.m. wake-up call that they need to bring the house keys sometimes I'm not proud of this I'm just admitting it there have been more than once there have been a few times well the alarm went off and I missed it and somebody from Heart Church a guy would walk into our room I'm asleep with dontrey and they're waking me up going rich wake up out of your slumber you have a trip to take I'm like my bags aren't packed yo I wonder in 2019 how many of us God's knocking going to y'all want to take you on the trip of a lifetime I have an assignment for you I have an appointment for you but you're like y'all my bags are packed yet oh oh yo I've been I've been wasting time I'm not ready to go I God's going ok this is an appointment assignment this is a God opportunity you have to patiently prepare you have to get ready I love what James clear says anatomic habits he says this way he says we don't rise to the level of our goals we fall to the level of our systems winners and losers have the same goal you have any new year's resolutions I'm excited I'm happy but if you don't attach it to a plan you will not last if you fail to plan you plan to fail you got to put a system to it you got to put a process to it it's my love on our church because we're not waiting in 2019 we didn't gather the elders together we didn't gather leaders like hey guys okay so light guys ah guys do we feel lead do we feel lead do we feel lead to pray in too fast this year there's a tough crowd it's okay 6:00 p.m. is gonna come in and encourage me like I want to teach this to you cuz it's important I'm not waiting to feel lead too fast if that get ready well someone's gonna maybe leave our church I don't feel like fasting tomorrow okay i'ma go further I don't want to fast to Horeb but I've already decided I believe it and so I don't wait on a feeling instead I put a system that every 21 days in January regardless of how I feel I've got an accountability structure around me that says guess what we're starting the year putting God first we're starting the year saying god we're gonna pray even if we don't feel like it because we believe on the other side of our prayers there's a god opportunity some of you you're in this service like maybe maybe I'll maybe I'll go to the prayer meeting on Wednesday I'll see how I feel okay then you won't go you got to put a system to it you got to put a count of build around it I want to live my life preparing you know why I'm excited about 2019 because I know that I spent 2018 preparing and the only people that are not excite 2019 this room are people that wasted 2018 because if you didn't waste it and if you patiently have been prepared it's just a matter of time it's just a matter of time and so I plead with you whether you wasted it or didn't why don't you make a decision right here today in this assembly of so many faith-filled Jesus followers to say I'm not gonna waste one moment in 2019 I'm not wasting one moment of making memories I'm not wasting one moment of celebration I'm not wasting one moment to say thank you I'm not wasting one moment to actually give an encouragement I'm not gonna waste my success I'm not gonna waste my accomplishments but I'm not gonna stop there why don't I go to the other side of the coin I'm not wasting my failures and I'm not wasting my mistakes and I'm not wasting my deficiencies and I'm not wasting my offenses I'm not wasting my pain I'm not wasting my hurt I'm gonna surrender it all to God and I'm gonna live today like he's doing what I'm waiting for you got a love Esther because Esther started living like a queen before she even became the Queen Esther said I don't need a crown on my head to remind me that I'm a child of God and that I have a purpose and a destiny and so I will patiently prepare because I believe I'm here for such a time as this oh I've ran out of time all day today I'm excited for tonight or they say I can preach as long as I want but if I don't give you the lets last point it's really not doing the text justice because the big differentiating factor between God opportunities and just good opportunities is this is that opportunities from God are always bigger than you God does not bless you to bless you God blesses you so that you would bless someone else God does not promote you so that you can be on the top of the mountain no God promotes you so that you can bring others to the top of the mountain God does not give you influence so that you can say whatever you want to say God gives you influence that you would use your mouth to be his mouthpiece and you would declare the true things of God God didn't pick Esther to be queen so she could just live an opulent life and party for seven days straight and have all of her needs met no God promoted ester to Queen because he believed that although she was living in a godless place he believed that he could trust her so he allowed things to happen all I want you to get to this today because he's a providential God I don't believe that God causes the bad things but I do believe that God who is sovereign allows things to happen that we don't understand you see he allowed the Jews to fall to the Persian Empire he allowed for hundreds of years to pass as the Jews were hoping for a salvation and a savior he allowed Vashti to rebel against Circe's he allowed Circe's to make a new decree he allowed Circe's to create a beauty pageant and he allowed this Jewish orphan girl that nobody even knew was Jewish to be promoted through the ranks and to be promoted to be Queen why because what we will discover her in the coming weeks is that Esther is a type of Jesus and that Esther was not promoted to be Queen simply that she could live a good nice life her best life now it's not why God promoted her but rather God was telling his story and he was trying to give us an image although his name is not mentioned he was trying to give us a picture of one to come whose name is Jesus and we will see in the weeks to come that there is a plot to kill the Jews but because Esther is put into power and influence she is there at just the right time like said to save those that didn't even know she existed for Esther is like Jesus but Jesus is the true and better Esther I don't think God causes it but I think God allows it and when things don't align with his nature and character sometimes he will permit things to take place so that his overall purpose can be put into motion and when he does he rarely puts his name on it because he's trying to teach you and I that nothing is wasted in the kingdom of God that there are always opportunities knocking and when we step in and receive them they're always bigger than us last January 2018 two leaders from our church manouschka and Mariana flew to Mexico for a wedding today we show their video story on purpose because it's been 12 months since this event occurred and on the way towards the wedding they were involved in a car accident to be quite honest with you we weren't sure if manouschka was gonna make it people from our team started flying to Mexico she was in a coma for over ten days I went twice to go and see her and it was a scary time for our church and we begin to pray on one of those occasions manouschka was in need of a blood transfusion so different girls from this church were flying to Mexico and they were giving their blood that manouschka might come through one of the girls who gave her blood her name's Francesca bury her and her husband Luke looks up here today they helped to start the church four years ago three years of being a real church but four years ago they came on the journey and Francesca actually has a rare blood type and after they took her blood they realized that it couldn't be used for manouschka and it seemed like maybe it wasn't going to be used but on the night of Anushka surgery a little baby came in from a car crash that was on the verge of dying and this little baby's little infant baby was in need of a blood transfusion the only problem was this little baby had a rare blood type and in this little hospital in Mexico there was one blood type that matched it was Francesca berry they gave the baby the blood transfusion and the baby survived and was healed do I think God caused manouschka and Marianas car accident no I do not believe it but I do believe that he allowed it for such a time as this that it would move Francesca berry from Miami to Mexico that she would give blood and she thought she was giving blood from Anushka but it turned out she was giving blood for a baby she didn't even know that would save that baby's life Oh friend I'm trying to tell you today then if you'll surrender if you'll turn it over to God you'll take the bad stuff you'll take the mistakes and this providential God will use it for his glory come on give God a shout

Channel: VOUS Church

Views: 59,683

Rating: 4.9142089 out of 5

Keywords: miami, miami beach, rich wilkerson jr, rich, vous church, opportunity, church, sermon, vous, esther

Id: SkeBAul7eQw

Length: 43min 48sec (2628 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 07 2019