Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

When God Seems Absent

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When Haman told his wife, Zeresh, and all his friends what had happened, his wise advisers and his wife said, “Since Mordecai—this man who has humiliated you—is of Jewish birth, you will never succeed in your plans against him. It will be fatal to continue opposing him.”

While they were still talking, the king’s eunuchs arrived and quickly took Haman to the banquet Esther had prepared. (Esther 6:13–14)

If you're like me, you're often waiting for the other shoe to drop. In this instance, we're waiting for—and wanting—Haman to get what he deserves. Everything within us craves justice. Especially with a loser like Haman, who has strutted his stuff long enough.

Never once in all of Haman's peacock strutting and evil plotting had God ignored him or his plan to murder Mordecai and the Jews. God had not missed his statements, the pride of his heart, the violent and prejudicial motives behind his decisions. God was invisible, but He was not out of touch or passive. He had not forgotten His people or His promises to them—and to their enemies.

A knock came at the door. And before he could even get his thoughts together, Haman was swept out of the house and escorted to the palace for the banquet that would spell his doom. I can't help but wonder if on the way to the palace Haman glanced again at the gallows he had built for Mordecai, shook his head, and regretted what he had done.

A magnificent theological principle underscored again and again in the Scriptures is this: When God seems absent, He's present. Even when you think you have lost all, God uses it as an opportunity to awaken you to the realization that He is still in charge, as well as to bring you to your knees.

Do you feel that God has been absent or on hold in your life, distant in some way? I want to remind you of this: He may have seemed absent from you, but He has been present all along. Furthermore, He knows your heart. He knows the true condition of your soul. He knows the hidden impurities of your motives. He knows the deep depravity of your sin. But He's heard your cry, and He will not turn you away.