Esther

Going through the book of Esther over the last three weeks has been awesome.  The book Esther does not mention God's name at all however, you can see God's work through  out the "coincidences" of the story.  God has a plan for all man kind to be redeemed.  Are we going to play our part in His story, or are we going to miss out and watch others be in the plan.  In life you can do one of two things, opt in or opt out.  God is going to do what God is going to do.  The questions is, are you going to get in the story or not.  If you are for God or against God.  We have all heard the phrase "Pride Comes Before The Fall".  That is exactly what happens in Esther.  When we try to put our plans in place of God's plans, we fail.  Pride is an obsession of self.  Chris said it best, "Our best laid plans outside of God's purpose will be our downfall".  It all comes down to pride.  God said that the Messiah would come from the Jews.  Haman tried to kill all the Jews because Mordecai wold not bow down to him.  Unfortunately for Haman he tried to put his plan over God's plan.  It didn't work out to good for Haman in the end.  Haman built a gallows  to hang Mordecai with and ended up being hanged himself with the same gallows.   In life we build our on gallows when we try to carry out our plans despite what God has in plan for us.  We sell out for pride.  God is present even if you don't see him.  Esther is a perfect example of God being present and working to carry out His will, even though His name is never mentioned in the book.