The story in the Book of Esther takes place during the dark period of Israel. Because of their disobedience to God, they no longer live in the Promised Land; instead, they live in a foreign land, Media Persia, now the country of Iran.  In this book we can read how God uses Mordecai and his cousin, Esther, to deliver Israel from annihilation schemed by the king’s right-hand man, Haman.  What is interesting about this book is that we cannot find the word “God” in the entire book. We can only find the act of God, how He saved His people.

To me, the Book of Esther mirrors that which takes place in the lives of all God’s people.  We do not always get to hear His voice, but we can always see His act—how He walks before us to prepare what is to come, how He walks beside us to lend support when we need it most, and how He lives in us to whisper His promises and His love. 

The fact that the name of God is not even mentioned doesn’t mean that it is omitted.  It is not mentioned because in a deeply intimate relationship between God and His people, both are already present in each other’s heart.  We are in His heart, and He is in our hearts. 

At the age of nine, C. S. Lewis lost his mother; she died from cancer.  Years later, reflecting on his loss, Lewis poignantly writes, “With my mother’s death all settled happiness, all that was tranquil and reliable, disappeared from my life.  There was to be much fun, many pleasures, many stabs of Joy; but no more of old security. It was sea and islands now; the great continent had sunk like Atlantis.” The loss of someone who is so close and so beloved takes so much of us that each day we live, we still feel the loss.  There is no need to say the name because the person is still here, in our heart.  God is not there; He is here, in our hearts.  Sometimes words are necessary to convey what is in our hearts but not always.  More than knowing, He also feels what we feel, and He has already acted. We will see it.

Pastor Paul