One Night with the King<\/a><\/em>) but the movie does not capture the story as well as the biblical narrative. The book is much better than the movie.<\/p>\nThe second thing I love about the book of Esther is that God is never mentioned. Jewish tradition does reveal a few “hints” of God…such as in 5;4, where\u00a0the\u00a0first letter of\u00a0 the Hebrew words for “let the King and\u00a0Haman come today” \u00a0spell the divine name YHWH (7:3 also contains a possible reference. But God is never explicitly referred to. For this reason (and for other reasons), some have argued that the book does not belong in the Bible. But I think exactly the opposite. A careful reading of the story shows that although God is not explicitly mentioned, He is everywhere in the story. I believe that God does not have to be mentioned or talked about for a story to reveal God. This is also the approach I take to music, movies, and art. For the person who is looking, God can be found anywhere and in anything. I love “secular” music, movies, and art because I think they often reveal more about God and the human condition than “Christian” music, movies, and art. God doesn’t have to be mentioned for something to be spiritual. Sometimes, as with the story of Esther, bringing God up can just get in the way of what God is trying to reveal.<\/p>\n
Finally,\u00a0it is valuable and important for every follower of Jesus to go through times in their life when they feel that God has abandoned them. We can be certain that many of the Israelites who went through the events\u00a0in the story of\u00a0Esther were asking “Where is God? Why isn’t He acting? Has He forgotten us? Is He punishing us? Is he neglecting us? Has He abandoned us? Why isn’t He being a better Father? I am a better parent to my children than God is to me!” It is only by going through events that cause us to ask these sorts of questions that God can do in us what He wants to do, and get us to where He wants us to be.<\/p>\n
This last point has had personal significance for me.<\/p>\n
Those of you who know me and have followed my blog know that I went through a period like this for about eighteen months. As a result, I am now in a place I never imagined myself being. Never. But in many ways, it is way better than any other plan I had made for myself.\u00a0Yet even now, I ask myself almost every day, “Was it worth it? If I\u00a0was given the choice to stay as I was or\u00a0to go through what I went through personally and spiritually to get where I am now, what would I choose?”<\/p>\n
I’m afraid to say, “Yes, it was worth it” out of fear that God will take me through another period like the one I am only now coming out of. Yet I cannot say “No” for I am certain that I am much better off\u00a0 now emotionally and spiritually than where I was two years ago.\u00a0 So my answer is, “Ask me again in ten or twenty years.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like the story of Esther,\u00a0our lives are a\u00a0story as well, and\u00a0we’re all\u00a0still in the middle of it. And we have yet to see how the pieces of the jigsaw will fit together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today is the Jewish holiday of Purim. Purim celebrates the events found in the biblical book of Esther, and specifically, the victory of the Israelites against the wicked plot of Haman to destroy the people of Israel. I love the\u00a0story of Esther for many reasons. Let me share a few. First, it’s a great story. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[12,19],"class_list":{"0":"post-659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"tag-bible-study","7":"tag-discipleship","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n
Where is God?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Where is God?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today is the Jewish holiday of Purim. Purim celebrates the events found in the biblical book of Esther, and specifically, the victory of the Israelites against the wicked plot of Haman to destroy the people of Israel. I love the\u00a0story of Esther for many reasons. Let me share a few. First, it’s a great story. […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Redeeming God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-03-09T20:21:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Mailchimp-Header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"562\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"182\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@redeeminggod\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeremy Myers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"headline\":\"Where is God?\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-03-09T20:21:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/\"},\"wordCount\":693,\"commentCount\":3,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"keywords\":[\"Bible Study\",\"Discipleship\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/\",\"name\":\"Where is God?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-03-09T20:21:12+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Where is God?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/\",\"name\":\"Redeeming God\",\"description\":\"Liberating you from bad ideas about God\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c\",\"name\":\"Jeremy Myers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeremy Myers\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Where is God?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Where is God?","og_description":"Today is the Jewish holiday of Purim. Purim celebrates the events found in the biblical book of Esther, and specifically, the victory of the Israelites against the wicked plot of Haman to destroy the people of Israel. I love the\u00a0story of Esther for many reasons. Let me share a few. First, it’s a great story. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/","og_site_name":"Redeeming God","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","article_published_time":"2009-03-09T20:21:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":562,"height":182,"url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Mailchimp-Header.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeremy Myers","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@redeeminggod","twitter_site":"@redeeminggod","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeremy Myers","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeremy Myers","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"headline":"Where is God?","datePublished":"2009-03-09T20:21:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/"},"wordCount":693,"commentCount":3,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"keywords":["Bible Study","Discipleship"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/","name":"Where is God?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-03-09T20:21:12+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/where-is-god\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Where is God?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/","name":"Redeeming God","description":"Liberating you from bad ideas about God","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/0df0211c3f7ba3d4c6cfa1f8411f481c","name":"Jeremy Myers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/eddb31e43c2836234b746787cbef8f12?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jeremy Myers"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"Jeremy Myers writes about Scripture and theology in a way that redeems God and people from the prison of religion. He is a popular author and blogger and often gives away free eBooks to his blog subscribers.","sameAs":["https:\/\/redeeminggod.com","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/290798794274804","https:\/\/x.com\/redeeminggod"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redeeminggod.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}