God Turns Things Around

God often turns things around in amazing ways.  Perhaps that’s why He’s rightfully called the “God of Hope.”

Recently I listened to a young woman share how three years of frustrating, unsuccessful attempts to get pregnant suddenly turned around. I also observed an elderly divorced woman enjoy a rich, satisfying life after suffering several years in an abusive marriage. God can often turn miserable situations around to glorify himself and bless His children.

The same is true for Esther. Although the name of God appears nowhere in the book of Esther, He is not absent. He’s there! He’s waiting to turn things around in amazing ways.

Esther, a beautiful young Jewish girl, lived during a time when a powerful Persian government official named Haman, schemed to wipe out the Hebrew race.  Ironically, King Xerxes chose Esther to be his queen. She lived many days and nights with death knocking at her door. If the king should discover her Jewish identity she’d be hung.  

What looked to be some of the darkest days in Esther’s life, and in Israel’s history, divinely turned inside out. Days that began in fear and trembling ended in joy and loud praises. The nation of Israel and Esther experienced great victory. Esther’s providential marriage to King Xerxes averted the ugly genocide.

When Esther, and the despairing infertile woman, and the desperate wife, felt God was hidden or absent, He was still caring for, busily laboring to turn things around. While nowhere was His face seen, everywhere His hand was present.

If you are in the middle of some setback, consider the words from “Blessings,” penned by Laura Story.  

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

 May the God of Hope help you trust in Him. He is constantly working, silently and invisibly working out all things according to the counsel of His good will.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13.)