Sovereign Swap
A Problem and Providence Can Happen at the Same Time
Most of us know what it feels like to want control, especially after walking through something painful that we never saw coming. Pastor Todd Doxzon opened Sunday’s message, Sovereign Swap, by talking about that tendency in his own life. Then he showed how some of the moments that felt most frustrating or confusing at the time eventually became part of a much bigger story.
He shared about signing with the New York Jets in 1997, tearing his hamstring just two weeks into training camp, and then suffering the same injury on the opposite leg the following year with the New England Patriots.
At the time, those setbacks simply felt like setbacks.
But after the Miami Dolphins picked him up, a conversation with a stranger on a beach eventually led him to a church, to his wife, and years later, to planting what would become Love Church. Looking back, Pastor Todd could see something he couldn’t see while he was living through it: God was still at work.
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways.” Isaiah 55:8
That same truth runs throughout the book of Esther.
There’s a Problem
The story begins with a very real threat.
Haman, who was second in command to the king, became angry when Mordecai refused to bow to him. Instead of dealing only with Mordecai, Haman used his position to target the entire Jewish population. An order went throughout the kingdom calling for their destruction.
“Dispatches were sent by swift messengers into all the provinces of the empire, giving the order that all Jews, young and old, including women and children, must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated on a single day.” Esther 3:13
There was no pretending the problem wasn’t serious. But the presence of a problem did not mean God was absent from the story.
There’s a Sovereign Schedule
Long before Haman’s plan was set in motion, Esther had become queen.
What may have seemed like a series of unrelated circumstances had placed her in exactly the position she would need to be in when the moment came. Mordecai challenged her with these words:
“Who knows whether you have come to this kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14
Esther still had a decision to make. Going before the king without being invited could cost her life. So before she acted, she asked her people to fast with her for three days. Then she made her decision.
“And if I perish, I perish.” Esther 4:16
Pastor Todd reminded us that being positioned for something significant does not mean the road there will be easy.
“There’s a lot of pain. There’s a lot of pressure before you get to privilege.”
Esther could not control everything happening around her, but she could be faithful with the position God had given her.
There’s Providential Provision
By the end of the story, everything had turned around.
The gallows Haman built for Mordecai became the place of his own execution, and Mordecai was elevated into the position Haman once held. What looked like certain destruction became a complete reversal.
“What the enemy meant for evil, He will turn it around for His good if you’ll just believe.”
That does not mean every difficult season will make sense immediately. Pastor Todd’s own story certainly didn’t while he was living through it. But Esther reminds us that a problem and God’s providence can exist at the same time. You can be facing something you never wanted and still trust that God is working in ways you cannot see yet.
What Do You Do With This?
Think about the situation you are gripping the tightest right now.
What part of it can you actually control, and what do you need to place back in God’s hands?
Then look at where God has already positioned you.
Is there a conversation you need to have, a step you need to take, or an opportunity in front of you that may be yours for “such a time as this”?
And before you respond to whatever feels overwhelming, follow Esther’s example and pray first.
You may not be able to see how the story will turn yet. That does not mean God is finished writing it.
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