Where some books in the Old Testament are more difficult to understand-Esther comes to us like an old familiar friend! We know her story. But sometimes we approach the familiar with less inquisitiveness-so we don’t want to let how well we know this story keep us from seeking to come away from our study having learned more about our Savior. Have you ever had a time in your life when you felt like God was not a part of your story? Not because you didn’t want Him to be-you were seeking Him, but you were just having a hard time seeing His hand in your life. What do we do in those moments? This week we are studying the book of Esther. Esther is the only book in the bible thatdoes not mention God by name. But just because His name is not mentioned does not mean He is not there! We just have to look a little bit harder. And maybe that is like us when we are having difficulty feeling that God is with us-it just might require that we look a bit harder. Remember that scene in the Lion King? Where Rafiki tells Simba to lookinto the water and he will be able to see his father. When Simba looks, he sees himself and tellsRafiki, that’s not my father, that is just my reflection. Then Rafiki tells him-Look harder! Remember the prophet Elisha back in 2 Kings. The king of Syria sent horses and chariots, agreat host, and encompassed the city of Dothan, where Elisha lived. And in the morning when Elisha’s servant looked out at the huge army surrounding them, he said to Elisha, “My master,what shall we do?” And Elisha answered him, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and behold,the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” The horsesand chariots sent by the Lord were there all along. The young man just needed to look a littleharder before he could see them! Some scholars suggest that the fact that God is not mentioned in the book of Esther is intentional. That, in fact, by leaving God out of the story we are forced to recognize that we do not always see what God is doing in our lives. Instead of seeing God we see coincidence! The bible dictionary says about the book of Esther, “The book contains no direct reference to God, but He is everywhere taken for granted, asthe book infers a providential destiny.” Joseph Smith saw God the Father and our Savior,Jesus Christ in the sacred grove, and still during a particularly hard momentin Liberty Jail, he cried out, “O God, where art thou? And where is thepavilion that covereth thy hiding place? Joseph’s question might even be harderfor us to understand-because Joseph knew God was there; he just wanted Him tostop hiding? Why would a loving God hide Himself from us? Especially in ourmost desperate moments? Elder Holland answers this question like this, “Faithmeans trusting God in good times and bad, even if that includes some sufferinguntil we see the hand of the Lord revealed in our behalf.” Today we are going to see where we can find God inEsther’s story-and I believe as we practice seeing Him in her story—we willbecome better at recognizing Him in our story-even on the days He may be hardto see! #lds #comefollowme #oldtestament #esther #fsy #heisourstory #scripturestudy
