The Silent Partner

Podcast available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favourite streaming platform!

In a previous season of my life as a stay-at-home mom, I took early morning walks with my eldest — the other early bird in the house. We walked in snow, rain, sunshine, even before sunrise. During those walks, we spent part of the time in silent prayer, listening for God’s voice, our Silent Partner. At first, my son was frustrated because he couldn’t “hear” anything.

You’ll have to read till the end to discover what changed in his perspective and helped him to recognize God’s voice.

When God seems silent

We’ve all been there at some point. What do you do when God seems silent? Is he absent? When we long for clear direction, why does he feel nowhere to be found?

The book of Esther is one of only two books of the Bible named after a woman. Even more striking — God is not mentioned once in the entire book. There is reference to fasting and praying and so you assume that these religious practices are directed towards God, but that’s the closest we get. Even more interesting, Jesus references nearly every Old Testament book — except Esther. For a story of such dramatic deliverance, that omission makes you pause.

My main approach for reading Scripture and what I advocate for most when guiding others in their own reading, is to look for what God is doing. If the Bible is a story about God, the question we want to answer is, “what does this tell me about God?”

And this is exactly why the book of Esther is so important. Not just for its engaging, blockbuster-film-worthy story, but because I think it really closely resembles our own lives. 

In our cultural moment, God is not so obvious. The Holy Spirit doesn’t descend like fire (Acts 1). We are not following a pillar of cloud or fire (Exodus 13). There’s no writing on the wall (Daniel 5) and no booming voice from heaven (Revelation 12). 

I’m tempted to think a God so obvious would make life so simple. But then I’m reminded of the idolatry and rebellion littered throughout the story of Scripture at a time when Jesus did in fact tabernacle among us (John 1) or speak through donkeys (Numbers 22) and bushes (Exodus 3), and I’m certain we wouldn’t make better choices. 

This is what makes Esther’s story so incredibly like our own. She was just a simple Jewish girl living away from home. Through a series of fortunate events, she finds herself in a prominent place as queen of Persia.

The God-free story of Esther

It is brought to her attention that a plot is in the works to destroy her people through genocide. So as queen, Esther is presented with an opportunity to do something about it. However, not without great risk to her own life. See, even though Esther was the queen, it was the king of Persia who truly reigned supreme and Esther was not permitted to go to him without being summoned by him first. Approaching the king was punishable by death. Esther knew this and she still takes the chance. 

Remember growing up and knowing there was a smart way and a foolish way to ask your parents for something? Timing and tone mattered. Esther understood this and used it wisely.

She didn’t just come out with the news, she invited the king and his second-in-command to a banquet. At the banquet, she invites them to come to another banquet the following day. Both king and advisor are well satiated at the second banquet when Esther finally spills the tea and reveals to the king a plot to annihilate her people. The king is deeply disturbed and asks her who is behind this. Esther simply draws attention to the second-in-command, Haman, the king’s righthand man. 

The people are spared, and the noose prepared to publicly hang Esther’s cousin, Mordecai, is used to execute Haman instead. 

God’s absence is not his silence

Believe it or not, I did not leave God’s role out of my retelling of the story. At some point, Esther does make a public call to the Jews to fast and pray, but it never says to whom they are directing those prayers. Prayers to God is the assumption here and that’s the closest we get to any reference of the divine.

God’s silence in the book of Esther is not his absence in the story. Dig deeper, the Silent Partner is there. Esther didn’t become queen through a series of fortunate events. God put her there to save his people. Mordecai’s wisdom, the pride and foolishness of Haman—all of it evidence of God’s hand at work.

It’s famously been said that, those who put everything in God’s hand eventually see God’s hand in everything. 

Esther’s story is part of the grand narrative of what God has been doing since the beginning of time. God chose a people to bless so that they could be a blessing. His hand was on them through generations. Protecting them. Preserving them. Reserving a remnant that would one day produce the Messiah himself, God in the flesh. 

The Takeaways

Here are two things I take away from Esther’s story. Obedience is important and sometimes God uses other people to bring us to a place where we can obey his word or not. Esther had enough sense to know Mordecai’s guidance was coming from a higher source. So when he asks Esther, 

“Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

She heeds the advice and asks the people to fast on her behalf while she boldly risks her life on their behalf. Esther could have dismissed Mordecai and waited for God to tell her what to do himself. But she doesn’t. We can see that the Silent Partner in all of this is God himself. That God works through people—and he still does so today.

When you don’t know what to do or what God is doing, consider if you’re simply being called to just do the last thing he told you. Consider if his silence means he’s waiting for you to obey his last instruction.   

Silent walks with the Shepherd

Sometimes the silence is just part of the story. It’s not the end of it. I saw this line on social media and was struck by it. We drown in entertainment to avoid the silence where God speaks, then complain that he is silent.

I promised I would end by sharing the tip I gave my son on our walks. I told him that when it’s hard to hear from God, think about what you already know about him. The important caveat here is that we must be in the Scriptures regularly to know what God is like. If we don’t know who he is and what he is like, how could we recognize his voice over our own thoughts or the world’s noise? 

So I told my son this, as you think about what you know about God, think about what he does in the Bible. He proceeded to tell me that his favorite picture of God is that of Shepherd. With this in mind, we continued our silent walk and he pictured the Good Shepherd walking with us. Finally, after a few moments he said, “I sensed God telling me that he will guide me today and that he loves me.” He was excited and full of joy. What he hears from God comes from a place of understanding of who God is in Scripture. This is foundational.

Our silent partner, eager to guide and lead us if only we’d turn down the volume and listen. Sometimes he speaks through others—heed wisdom from the people God wants to use in your life. And sometimes he speaks through silent prayer in moments where we’re willing to listen. 

What’s in the Ears

This is the part where I share a song or podcast I’m currently into. This song is a collaboration by Elevation and Maverick City Music titled Talking To Jesus released in 2021 about a son learning to pray from his mother. Let me know if you check it out!

If this stirred something in you, share this post with a friend or drop a comment below. I’d love to hear what small step you’re taking towards the flourishing life today! And don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing.

Podcast available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favourite streaming platform!