Don’t Lose Hope in the Bigger Story

When I was a child, I would often be in kid’s meetings where the teacher would give a serialized story that was one chapter on one night, the next chapter on the next night, and so on. It came with pictures. Oftentimes each night’s portion of the story would end with a cliffhanger. You would have to come back the next night to find out what happened. When you read the story of Esther, it is important to remember that the chapter is not the story. You get to the end of one chapter and it seems like all hope is lost, but that is just the chapter, not the entire story.

In Esther 2 and 3 the primary characters are introduced. There is Mordecai, called Mordecai the Jew. There is Haman, called the Jew’s enemy. You meet Esther, the Jewish queen of the pagan sovereign. Then you find the theme, which is the Jewish people. So, you find a lot of characters introduced and the main point given.

Esther 3:15 ends with these words, “And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city of Shushan was perplexed. Haman was the man who decided he would exterminate all the Jews and had been given the okay by the king. That is the end of the chapter. The bad guys are winning.

That reminds me of life today. If you look at the news, you come to the distinct conclusion that the world is crazy. There are all kinds of senselessness and sin going on in the world. But Esther reminds us of something really important: don’t lose hope in the bigger story. You might say don’t lose confidence in the bigger story. You come to the end of chapter 3 and Haman, the Jew’s enemy, gets in good with the king and is given permission to exterminate the Jewish people. You have all this bad happening and that is the way the chapter ends. That may be the end of the chapter, but it is not the end of the book and certainly not the end of the story.

People sometimes talk about the meta narrative. That just means the big story that gives sense to all the little stories that make it up. So, we are aware of our story today, confined by space and time and the incidents that are happening to us right now, but there is a bigger story into which our stories, days, and lives fit. That is what gives sense to life.

Those who don’t know God lack that. They may have purpose, to do some good in the world, to be curious to find out about the world, but once they are dead, it is done. There is no bigger purpose or story. To be sure, meta narrative is not true simply because I like the outcome, but in this case, the big story is true and the outcome is good because the outcome is of God. So, don’t lose hope in the bigger story.

Now let me ask you, “Why is chapter 3 of Esther in the Bible?” It is because Esther’s story in this chapter is part of a bigger story that spans the entire book of Esther about the Jewish people and how they were preserved. Why is that in the Bible? Because God had chosen these special people, the Jewish nation. Why did God do that? Because He was going to send a Messiah through this people. Why is that important? Because God loves us, and we have sinned against Him. God made a way to send a Savior, God the Son, the Messiah, through a Jewish virgin, and this came through this nation that was preserved through providence by Queen Esther.

In other words, there is a bigger picture. Why is Esther in the Bible? It is because Jesus is in the Bible. Why is Jesus in the Bible? It is because God loves us and has made a way to reconcile a perfect God with sinful people without losing His own sense of truth and righteousness. God sent a Savior.

What is left unresolved in chapter 3? There is a lot. In Esther 2 we read of two men who plotted against the king. Mordecai, Esther’s cousin, who had brought her up from a child, caught wind of this and the king’s life was spared. It was written in the book of the chronicles of the king. That is the end of it. You don’t see anything else about that in the rest of the chapter. Then you see something else that was written, the authority the king gave the wicked Haman to destroy the Jews. These two things are written down. The extermination goes into progress and Mordecai saving the king’s life is forgotten. But this is not the end of the story; it is just the end of the chapter.

Today, whatever you face is not the end of the story. It is not the big picture. If we die tomorrow, it is not the end of the big story. Don’t lose hope in the bigger story. The bigger story is too big to comprehend. We often don’t see the forest for the trees. We don’t have the big perspective of the forest because the trees block our view. There are so many details in any given day that seem to be random, not make sense, and seem bad. It is because it is the end of the chapter and not the end of the story. The city was perplexed and the king and Haman celebrated, but those are details. This story is too big to comprehend simply because of all the details. The big story is the one that gives the sense to all the little stories. One of which we just looked at.

At the same time, the big story is too big to miss. It is too big to comprehend if we are trying to comprehend all the details, but it is too big to miss. You can only take life a chapter at a time, but don’t miss God’s great mercy for you found through the Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins, was buried, and rose again so that we might have forgiveness and peace with God. Whatever your problems today, God is bigger.

So, you have characters, Mordecai the Jew, Haman the Jew’s enemy, Esther the Queen. You have a theme, the Jewish people, and you have the end of the chapter where the bad guys seem to be winning. Maybe today the bad guys seem to be winning. Maybe it is the bad in your life that seems to be winning. Don’t lose hope or confidence in the bigger story.