1. Mordecai: Trusting against all Odds Thursday, May 26, 2016

2. 1. Life is not always fair or predictable Esther 3:1-2 After these events King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him. (2) All the king's servants who were at the king's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage.

3. Why – Michael Card Why did it have to be a friend Who chose to betray the Lord Why did he use a kiss to show them That's not what a kiss is for Only a friend can betray a friend A stranger has nothing to gain And only a friend comes close enough To ever cause so much pain

4. And why did there have to be thorny Crown pressed upon His head It should have been the royal one Made of jewels and gold instead It had to be a crown of thorns Because in this life that we live For all who seek to love A thorn is all the world has to give

5. And why did it have to be A heavy cross He was made to bare And why did they nail His feet and hands His love would have held Him there It was a cross for on a cross A thief was supposed to pay And Jesus had come into the world To steal every heart away Yes, Jesus had come into the world To steal every heart away

6. 2. Mordecai had unswerving trust in God’s provision and plan Esther 4:13, 14 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, "Do not imagine that you in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews. If you persist in staying silent at a time like this, help and deliverance will arrive for the Jews from someplace else; but you and your family will be wiped out. Who knows? Maybe you were made queen for just such a time as this."

7. 3. God orders the circumstances in all lives Esther 6:1-6 That night the king couldn't sleep. He ordered the record book, the day-by-day journal of events, to be brought and read to him.

8. Day by day, and with each passing moment, Strength I find to meet my trials here; Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment, I've no cause for worry or for! fear. He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure, Gives unto each day what He deems best, Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure, Mingling toil with peace and rest.

9. Every day the Lord Himself is near me, With a special mercy for each hour; All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me, He whose name is Counsellor and Pow'r. The protection of His child and treasure Is a charge that on Himself He laid; "As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure," This the pledge to me He made.

10. Help me then, in every tribulation, So to trust Thy promises, O Lord, That I lose not faith's sweet consolation, Offered me within Thy holy Word. Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting, E'er to take, as from a father's hand, One by one, the days, the moments fleeting, Till with Christ the Lord I stand.

11. Mordecai: Trusting against all odds