Esther Week 6- TIMING

RECAP:
In the close of Esther 4, Esther and her crew were fasting and praying for 3 days.  Esther needed to know God's plan for her future, and her next steps would need to be taken with boldness, courage, and clarity.  Esther 5-7 shows us how God's plan and purpose always comes in God's timing.

ICEBREAKER:
1- Most people hate to wait, but some circumstances and settings are more frustrating than others.  What areas of life do you have zero patience in?  (waiting in a line, the DMV, traffic on the interstate, waiting on a table at a restaurant when you're hungry, having only 1 lane open at Walmart while the other 38 lanes are closed).

2- A popular saying is, "Good things come to those who wait."  Do you have a story of a big payoff that resulted from your diligent waiting and patience?


TRANSITION:
Many people are missing out on what God has for their life, NOT because they don't love God, NOT because they don't trust God, not because they don't believe that God has a plan, and NOT because they think their plan in better than God's plan.  Many people miss out because they aren't willing to wait on God and trust in His timing.


STUDY NOTES:
READ Esther 5:1-4

3- Esther fasted and prayed for 3 days.  What is something that you have been praying for and asking God for, and haven't received an answer yet?

Notice that Esther invited the King and Haman to a dinner "that she had already prepared" (vs 4).  While she was waiting, Esther was working.

Are you waiting on God, or is God waiting on you?  God may be waiting on the words of your mouth and prayers of your heart to turn into the action of your hands.

4- As you pray and ask God for wisdom, guidance, provision, etc, what does it look like to work while you wait?  What does faithfulness and obedience look like in a season of asking and waiting?


READ Esther 6:1-3

Years prior, Mordecai had saved the life of the King by thwarting an assassination attempt on the King's life.  Yet, Mordecai was never rewarded for doing the right thing.

5- Are you consistently doing the right thing, walking in obedience to God, remaining faithful, putting others in front of yourself, but not seeing the pay-off in your life?

6- When was the last time you did something nice for someone or served someone, and they failed to even thank you for it?


READ Esther 7:1-17

7- Describe a season in your life when God seemed silent, distance, or uninvolved in your situation.

8- NOT SEEING is not the same as NOT WORKING.  Did you find out later that God was working behind the scenes, and even though He seemed silent He was actually working things out in the background?


READ Esther 7:8-10
God had a plan all along, but He needed people that were willing to trust in His timing in order for that plan to come to fruition.

9- How do you know that you can trust God, even when you can't see His Hand moving?


NEXT STEPS and APPLICATION:
10- Faith leads to action, even in a time of waiting.  Some people think they are waiting on God, when in actuality God is waiting on them to move forward in faith.

11- The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit. Remember that God's plan always involves a process that is on His timeline.


ADDITIONAL STUDY:
12- Proverbs 21:1- "A King's heart is like channeled water in the Lord's Hand.  He directs it wherever He chooses."

-How does this text help us understand the role of presidents, Kings, and rulers in the world today?  Scripture tells us to pray for our leaders, pray for the prosperity of our cities, and pray for people in positions of authority over us.


13- Galatians 6:9- "Let us not become weary at doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

-Paul acknowledges a few things in this text:
a- We have a tendency to get tired of constantly taking the high road, doing the right thing, and living a selfless life.
b- God has a proper time associated with His plans, which may be different than our best time, our most convenient time, or the most obvious time in our minds
c- We WILL reap a harvest for our obedience and faithfulness.
d- There is a possibility that we will forfeit that harvest and reward if we give up too soon.