Tuesday, October 1, 2024 | Trey Comstock
By Rev. Emily Larsen
I’ve been blessed to work on many overseas mission team. The predicaments that can occur while attempting to do ministry in unfamiliar surroundings with new cultures and language barriers are multitude. However, I often found that it was the very conundrums which ended up becoming the teachable moments for myself, my team, or my new found local friends in ministry. It is in the places of our shortcomings that we can see where God is at work, weaving a tapestry of “coincidences” that end up not being coincidences in the background.
For example, once while working in the desert places of Peru, one of the poorest communities I’ve ever witnessed, located hours and hours drive from what could be called the nearest “village,” we were tasked with the job of leading a Vacation Bible School for the children. The entire population of this particular slum appeared to be children when we arrived. Much like a college town is deserted during Summer months while school is out, the daytime demographic of this slum became whoever was too young to take the bus into the city to find work with the exception of a few nursing mothers left behind to tend to them en masse.
After several hours’ ride on the dusty road in a rickety bus, we arrived to find the entire community of young patrons waiting eagerly for our scheduled activities and games. They were especially excited for the fortified milk and bread that we were to hand out that day as part of the program.
Somewhere in the confusion of setting up, we realized we had left all of our supplies on the bus that had left us there. We were devastated. I started to quickly devise a plan to do all of our games and activities without supplies, pulling on my years of experience in low- and no-budget church ministry.
To all of our surprise, at that very moment, we saw the bus driver coming back up the road towards us. I thought to myself, “Praise God! He realized we left our stuff on the bus and came back to bring it to us.” No. He didn’t. He could have cared less if we had. He did, however, have a flat tire and needed our team’s help to repair it as it was more than a one-person job. We were able to get our supplies back and have an incredible VBS. And the driver was able to use our team’s labor to help get back on the road.
Even though our supplies were safely back in our possession, we realized we had another problem. We had vastly underestimated the number of children that we would be serving that day. We weren’t going to have enough milk and bread to serve everybody. And it wasn’t like I could run to the local corner store and get more. I was devastated. How was I going to be able to turn away a hungry child? What were we going to do? My team began to pray for God’s intervention and guidance.
Miraculously, through God’s divine providence, somehow every child and nursing mom was served bread and milk that day. There was even enough milk that everybody got to have seconds. It was definitely a loaves and fishes moment, because there’s no other way that that miracle could’ve occurred! God’s hand was at work in the background, even when we didn’t know what we were going to do or where we were going to turn for help. When we fell short, God had it covered. All we had to do was walk in faith and take the next steps that God had called us to do. God took care of the rest.
I am reminded oftentimes in ministry that God’s Kingdom-building work doesn’t just happen in the world BECAUSE of us, but in SPITE of us. Despite our best efforts, so often we fall short. And unless God is guiding our steps, our own plans will oftentimes fail. “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1
The story of Esther is one where we see God at work throughout, even though God is never mentioned by name in the book of Esther. We can see God’s providence through a series of “coincidences” that are not coincidences. Esther becomes queen at the perfect time. Famously, Mordecai–her cousin and adoptive paternal figure- reminds her that even though God’s will is going to be done regardless of Esther’s actions, perhaps she was appointed for “such a time as this.” Mordecai uncovers a plot to assassinate the king, granting him favor in the king’s eyes. The king just happens to have a sleepless night where he just happens upon the written account of Mordecai intervening and saving him. Then, Mordecai just happens to be the scribe to overhear the plot to destroy all of the Jews. Esther bravely walks in faith to go before the King, who just happens to lower his scepter to allow her audience. When Haman’s plot is eventually overturned, it is Mordecai’s loyalty that Esther uses to remind the king just whose side he should be on when it comes to God’s people, the Jews. And, in an ultimate twist of irony, Haman is led away to the very gallows that he had built for Mordecai.
These “coincidences” in Esther’s story can be interpreted as markers of divine providence, illustrating that events which appear random are part of God’s larger, purposeful plan. This perspective invites us all to consider how faith and action intertwine in times of crisis. How God’s plans and our own human agency in deciding to go along with that plan can ultimately lead to a bigger picture of salvation and justice in the world.
The story of Esther teaches us that even when circumstances appear to be dire, that faith and courage can bring about profound change. Purim is a celebration of this divine intervention, reminding us even today that there is often a hidden hand guiding our lives, and that our actions, no matter how small, can have significant impacts on the world around us. The holiday encourages us to embrace our roles within our communities and to trust in the larger plan at work, celebrating the miracles that unfold in our lives. Purim celebrates that God is always at work on behalf of God’s people, even when we cannot see it.