Bible Baptist Church

I was watching Pastor Francis Chan preach a message when he began to ask a series of questions, such as:

1. What was Jesus doing at the age of 20?
2. What was Jesus doing at the age of 25?

The obvious answer is He was likely doing some sort of carpenter work. Have you ever noticed how little we know about the first thirty years of Jesus' life? Yes, we know...

1. His birth
2. His ministry
3. His death
4. His resurrection

Yet, for most of His young life we know very little. We do know that at the age of twelve he got left in Jerusalem. Somehow He survived three days and when He was found by His parents He was teaching at the Temple. We discover a few things here:

1. People who heard Him were amazed by His understanding and
questions

2. His parents did not understand Jesus' reasoning for staying in
Jerusalem
3. Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and favor with both God and
man

This is basically all we know about Jesus' formative years. The scriptures jump ahead and Jesus is about thirty years of age (cf. Luke 3:23) as He is getting ready to be baptized. Jesus gets baptized and verified (cf. Matthew 3:17).

What do you think you'd do if when you got baptized and a voice came from heaven verifying who you are? I think it would be tempting to run with that and aim to do something great. Yet, Jesus Christ leaves His baptism and fasts forty days prior to be tempting by the devil.

I want to share with you this morning on:

How God does some of His deepest work in the seasons nobody sees.

There's more happening in our background than what we are aware of. Although I believe with all my heart Jesus knew what was happening, why it was happening, and the outcome of it all that does not always translate to our own lives. I want to compare a person from the Old Testament to help us understand how the LORD works in the obscurity of our lives.

The person I want to introduce to you is a woman named Hadassah. Her name means "Myrtle" or "Myrtle trees". Ironically the name Hadassah carries along the symbolism of peace, but peace seemed be to absent from her life. Her name also means prosperity, but she lost her parents and grew up as an orphan. Her name Haddassah also means beauty, but it is that beauty that placed her in the Persian king's harem..

To watch her life you would never know how she could have been named Hadassah. You would know her better by her Persian name Esther, and it is from her name Esther we begin to see God do His deepest work to save the Jews within the Persian Empire.

Esther means "Star". So much of her life is tragic and unknown:

1. Her family was part of the Jewish diaspora that remained in Persia
2. She was orphaned when both of her parents died
3. Her cousin Mordecai took her in as his own daughter
4. She would be part of the elect virgins chosen to go before the Persian
King

You look at her life and you would see one tragedy after another, but because God was in the background of her obscurity she ends up being the hero who would save the Jewish people. God is not mentioned one time in her book, but you can see His providence all throughout it.

Let me share with you three lessons about God working in the obscurity of our lives:

1. God works in the obscurity when life takes from us:
2. God works in the obscurity when life moves us without notice:
3. God works in the obscurity when life plants where we must grow the
most:

Wow pastor, you talked about Jesus' early life and Esther, but what does the one have to do with the other? Great question. Today we have been looking at how the LORD works in the background of our lives. Even when we are struggling to see Him, He is there. He is working diligently in the obscurity of our lives. In fact, I would dare say it is in these moments are faith is being molded.

There's one last person I want to talk to you about. The world may not know his name, but heaven did. In fact, we are not introduced to him until he is dying on a cross. From our perspective, this man is better recognized as a thief or insurrectionist. The gospels don't share a name, but just the charge for being crucified.

Yet, however the man lived and the choices he made all placed him on a cruel cross next to Jesus Christ. As he hung there on that cross in his pain he heard Jesus' words, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (cf. Luke 23:34). Not only did he hear Jesus' words, but he heard the angry rulers scoff and condemn Jesus. Yet, Jesus did not respond with words of anger or bitterness. He choose to forgive them.

The Roman soldiers threw in their taunts as they mocked Jesus Christ. The one who considered Himself the King of the Jews was now dying like any other criminal they had crucified in the past. Before he could say a word, the man on the other side of Jesus began to speak. His words were more blasphemous and abusive than anything else. Again, this Jesus did not even bat an eye of frustration toward the man.

Enough was enough, someone needed to defend this Jesus. The man spoke, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." With that being said, the man took a leap of faith and asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus went into His kingdom.

Every choice that he had made up to this point brought him to this cross, but it was his choice on the cross that would usher him into Paradise after his death. His life could be described as a failure, but in his dying breath he found redemption. You see in that moment he realized God was there along. Yes, horrific decisions were made that brought him to the cross, but there at the cross was a Savior willing to save him.

That same Savior that was on the cross is willing to save you this morning too.

God does some of his deepest work in the seasons nobody sees:

1. Jesus hidden for most of his first thirty years:
2. Esther hidden in Persia
3. A criminal hidden in history

Like these three, you don't have to despise the quiet seasons of your life. The same God who worked in the hidden years of Jesus, the hidden life of Esther, and the hidden faith of a dying thief is still working in the hidden places of your life today.