Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - You're Not as Forgotten as You Feel | Esther: Part 4

Episode Date: August 23, 2026

You've stayed faithful, but nothing's changed. No breakthrough yet. You're starting to wonder if it even matters. What feels invisible to everyone else is seen by God. We're talking about how to keep going when it looks like nothing's happening.    NEXT STEPS Have you made the decision to follow Jesus? You might be wondering what’s next for you. We want to help! Check out these resources to ​​discover what saying yes to Jesus means: https://go2.lc/podcastcommittochrist ABOUT THIS MESSAGE Have you ever looked at your life and wondered where God was? You’re not alone. In the book of Esther, God’s name doesn't appear once, but His fingerprints are on every page. In this series, we'll learn how God showed up in what looked like an ordinary story—and it might change the way you see your own. A Simple Overview of Esther’s Story: https://finds.life.church/esther-bible-story-explained/ Start the Bible Plan Esther: Trusting God When You're Running on Empty: https://www.go2.lc/plan ABOUT LIFE.CHURCH Wherever you are in life, you have a purpose. Life.Church wants to help you find your next step. Our hope is that your journey will include joining us at a Life.Church location throughout the United States or globally online at https://www.live.life.church Find locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/app/download FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/life.church Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.church TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurch YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@life.church CONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIG GROESCHEL YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/craiggroeschel Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschel Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschel TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschel LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/35447748/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, today as we look at the fourth week of the message series of Esther, I want to speak specifically to those of you that are really trying hard to do the right thing, and you're not sure that it really matters. We'll see that in this week's message. I'll tell you a story to introduce it. Years ago, Amy was driving our six kids, all six kids, in our 1995 Ford Windstar minivan. If you make fun in minivans, you've never had six kids on a budget. They're a blessing from God. Push the button, the doors open, and all the kids get out or get in. She was at a red light, and there was a car in front of her.

The light turned green. The car started, and so she started, and then the car just stopped. And she bumped the car. Maybe two miles an hour. Bumped the car. Guy got out. Ra, rah, rah, rah, rah. Called the police.

police came out and said, go home, no damage, nothing happened, it's over. Amy came home, she told me about it, this guy who was all upset, our phone rang. This was back in the day of the phone book. He looked us up. He called and chewed me out, your wife rammed into me, did all this damage. I'm like, sir, the police came, there's no damage. He said, there's damage, there's damage, you owe me money. And I said, we don't owe you money.

Amy said, the police said, if you don't give me money, I'm going to go to the news stations and I'm going to tell them all about how you're a fraud. So I prayed about it. God, what do you have me do? I sought God. I called him back. I said, bring it on. I didn't say that. I wanted to say that. You have no idea how many times I want it be normal. Pastor Craig called him back. And so like, I'm going to send you something and send him a check. And I felt like I did not even the right thing, more than the right thing, sent it. And then nothing. Nothing.

I tried to do the right thing. And it felt like it didn't matter at all. Some of you today, you're working really hard. You're trying to honor God. You're serving faithfully. You're seeking God. you're praying, you're trying to restore a marriage, you're trying to get ahead, you're trying to be generous, you're trying to help your kids, and you've been faithful so long and you're wondering,

does God even see this? Does my faithfulness and hard work even matter? Does he even notice? We're going to see that this week in the book of Esther. The fourth week in, we're going to see Mordecai is exactly in that place. Now, if you're just joining us, you're going to say, who's Mordecai? Well, let's review. We're going to look at the five main characters, and for those of you that are tired of the review and say, I've got it memorized. Congratulations, that means you've been at church. This is for everybody else who has not been here, and so we're going to catch them up on the story. We saw in the first week that there is a king, King Xerxes, who was good at throwing big parties and liked to drink a lot. He was drunk at a party, called for his wife, Queen Vastey,

and said, hey, come in here, I want to show you off because you're beautiful hot, and I want everybody to see you, and she said, I'm tired of being objectified, and I'm not coming in. He got his feelings hurt. her and suddenly the queen's throne is now open. Then we met Esther. Remember Esther, the book is called Esther. She was a Jewish orphan girl raised by her cousin Mordecai. She's taken against her will, goes through this one year beauty training and has chosen then to be the queen of Persia as a Jewish girl has to keep her identity quiet. Mordecai, her cousin, who's a good man, here's a plot of people trying to kill the king. She tells Esther, saves the king's life,

does the right thing, it's written down, and then nothing. Sound familiar. We're going to discover this week the principle that what's unnoticed by people is never forgotten by God. Mordecai does the right thing. Nobody notices, but God does.

And then if you've been with us, the music changes. It gets scary. This is the part of the movie. where the bad guy shows up. Haman, the bad guy shows up. Haman convinces the king that all the Jewish people are evil and convinces the king. You've got to kill and destroy all the Jewish people. Mordecai tells Esther, you've got to talk to the king.

You've got to tell him not to do this. Esther's in a really complicated place. She's Jewish. The king doesn't know that she's Jewish and he's going to kill all the Jewish people. Her people are about to be killed, including her, and she's not allowed to approach the king unless the king invites her. If she comes in uninvited, unsummoned, the king can kill her unless he extends the royal scepter and then she gets to live.

Mordecai tells her the famous line, say it with me if you know it. Maybe Esther, you are born for such a time as this. She realizes she has to do something. She calls her people and says, will you pray? and that's where we are today. She now takes a step of faith. We see it in Esther chapter 5, verse 1. On the third day, Esther put on her royal robes

and stood in the inner court of the palace in front of the king's hall. So she's getting dressed up like the queen. She's going to go approach him. If he wants to, he can kill her, or he could extend the scepter. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the interest,

when he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, here it is, what's going to happen? When he saw it, what did he do? Did he kill her? Three of you know the story. No, he did not kill her. The Bible says he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter

that was in his hand. And the king asked, what is it, Queen Esther? Great news, not only is he not going to kill her, but he's actually in a really good mood. He's glad to see her, and he's going to say, what is it you want, honey, I'll give you anything. That's my translation. He didn't say, honey, but whatever he called her,

Sweetie pie, Queenie. Queenie, what do you want? He said to her, what is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given to you. She gets to live. He's in a good mood. She took the step of faith and God prepared his heart.

It seems like the perfect time to ask the king to save the Jewish people. but instead she invites the king and haman the bad guy to a banquet instead and then later she invites them to another banquet she waits and we're not sure why theologians have their um their guesses like maybe she was being prayerful maybe she was afraid maybe she was waiting whatever it is what we know is this. We know that in the waiting, God was working. God was working in the waiting. And the whole time this is going on, the bad guy, Haman, he's planning to execute Mordecai. And Mordecai is worried about his people. And neither one of them sees what God already set in motion. Are you with me? If you're with me, say I'm with you.

Are you with me? Esther 6-1 tells us this. That night, the king could not sleep. There it is. I'm going to say it like this. I used to do magic tricks. You know that? It used to be a magician.

12 years old, I used to be a professional magician. 25 bucks for a party. I could make a rabbit come out. And sometimes I would do this. So I'm going to try this. Was the verse still up there? give me the wide shot. That night, the king could not sleep.

You guys are fine. There it is. The king couldn't sleep. There's the hinge. The king had a bad night, and God had a plan. The king could not sleep. Look at the rest of verse.

That night, the king could could not sleep. So he ordered the book of Chronicles. These are like the legal records. This is a government record book. I can't sleep. Somebody get me the government record book. And read that to me. So I ordered the book of chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. The king could not sleep. So he asked for the government record books to be read to him. Now, the phrase, this is so important, could not sleep in the Hebrew language, it literally means to make sleep flee. It's like making a fugitive flee or an animal flee. That's the word in the Hebrew. It wasn't that he just couldn't sleep, but what I want you to

see is that God didn't let him sleep. The king couldn't sleep because God had. a plan. Sometimes in the most ordinary things, and even the things that seem like interruptions or inconveniences, God is working in the middle of those. The king couldn't sleep. God made sleep flee. It's crazy, and I debated on whether, not to tell you this, but the night before I started working on Esther chapter 3, I couldn't sleep. Two in the morning, I'm wide awake. It was like sleepless fleeing, and I could not sleep. And so I started praying, and I was praying for you all, and I don't want to overstate this,

but when I tell you that I had this very unusual burden, it was like a heavy weight. And it's just, I mean, I don't even know how to get close to expressing it. but just because there's a lot of you doesn't mean I don't care for every single one of you. I mean, it's like it is so, such a heavy burden in my heart. And there is so much pain, there's so much spiritual opposition. And I just like labor and prayer. God help me, help them know you and walk in the victory that you have for them over and over again. I pray it, I preach it, I try.

and it's just hard. I mean, I look into your eyes and I can see the pain and I can feel it. And so I'm up there like in just praying, God, help me, give me something. And I just had this vision. And how many times do you heard me say I have a vision? Like, never.

I had this vision of standing before the church saying, everyone takes the next step. Everyone takes a next step. Next morning I went in and I pulled up my notes. Now, backstory is I write every outline for every series before we ever start. I outlined this back at the end of May and the 1st of June. The reason I do it, and I don't want to bore you,

because I've got to dig it all out, make sure it works. Is it all there? Am I pleased with it? So I didn't pull this up since maybe the first week of June. I pulled my notes up the morning after I couldn't sleep, and I looked at my note, you're looking for details, God's looking for trust, take the next step. Whoa.

And this was so personal to me. And so last week, I invited you all, to take a next step. And here's what's crazy is that 24,000 of you said, God's showing you what to do next. He took a step of faith, told us about it, and then our past world teams made 24,000 personal connections. And I tell you all that to say, number one, is I want you to know and feel it like I care, more importantly, God cares. And for me, God made sleep, for me to experience something I wouldn't have experienced otherwise to maybe help you experience something you wouldn't experience otherwise as well. It might be for you a restless night. It might be a delay.

It might be an interruption. It might be a door closes and you know why it closed. And what looks ordinary to you may be something that God is setting in motion. God made sleep flee. And it's 2 a.m. and the king can't sleep. He's got no Netflix. He's got no phone to doom scroll. So he asked his assistant, bring me the government record book. Out of everything he could have asked for,

out of everything they could have read him, he asked for the record of his reign. And here's where the king discovered. Esther 6-2 tells us this. in those records, he discovered an account of how Mordecai had exposed the plot to assassinate King Xerxes. He hears the account of how Mordecai reported the plot. Remember chapter two? Mordecai heard about the rumor to kill the king, and he reported it and saved the king and nothing happened. Now, to think, think about this.

You find someone's wallet. They might give you 20 bucks. You help someone do something. They might send you a thank you note. He saved the king's life. No note, no gift card to Chick-fil-A, nothing at all. It appeared completely forgotten and unnoticed. Until sleep fled.

Until the king couldn't sleep. until someone read the right words on the right night at the right moment to the right king. And the king asked the question, what did we do for this guy? He asked him this. He said, what honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this? He saved my life. The king, what did we do for him? And the attendant said, nothing has been done for him.

The king shocked. This guy saved my life. And we didn't do a parade for him, and we didn't give an award, he didn't get some kind of trade, he didn't get a financial award, he didn't get anything. He did the right thing, and it went unnoticed and seemed forgotten. And that's why I want to speak to those of you today that you're doing the right thing, and it seems like nobody notices. Whenever you're faithful, whenever you're seeking God, when you're doing what he put on your heart, and no one seems to notice what's unnoticed by people is never forgotten by God.

What's a notice by them is always recognized in heaven. And the king realizes, we've got to do something for this guy. We need to honor Mordecai, the guy that saved my life. Well, the next day, the bad guy, Haman, comes in and says, I want to kill Mordecai. Can I have permission to hang this rebellious, Jewish man on a pole, a 75-foot pole. And the king says, Heyman, what do you think should be done for the man that the king wants to honor? I want to honor somebody what should be done for him.

Now, raise your hand if you remember the old Carly Simon song. You're so vain. Say it with me. You probably think this song is about. you. That's Haman. What should be done for the man who honor, to honor this man? And Haman thinks, that's me. I'm going to get honored. The king that's going to throw a party for me. And so Haman says, here's what we should do. I'm going to fly my own party. And we should get this fancy robe. And I want to get this horse and parade me on this horse. It's going to be amazing when we come and play the rocky theme music. And I'm going to come riding in on the horse. And everybody's going to clap for me. It's going to be amazing. And the king.

says, perfect. Heyman, you do exactly that for Mordecai. Esther 6.11 tells us this. So Haman got the robe and the horse. He robed Mordecai, the guy that he was trying to kill. He robed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city streets proclaiming before him. This is what's done for the man, the king, delights to honor. Do you see the irony? Haman, the bad guy, the man who thought the song was about him. The guy who planned to kill Mordecai is now leading Mordecai through the streets in honor. Listen, God didn't just stop the attack.

He took what the enemy meant for evil and all he turned it for good. He took what the enemy meant for evil and used the most ordinary, things to turn it for good. And the good news is most of you are not facing death on a pole. You can say amen right there if you want to. If you think it's bad, you're not going to face a 75-put pole. You don't want to die that way. Most of you are not facing that. But the reality of some of you are facing something. You're looking at something that's been moving in the wrong direction for a long period of time. And it's because you have a spiritual enemy who comes to steal, kill, and destroy everything that matters to the heart of God.

And when you're doing the work and the will of God, your spiritual enemy comes against you to try to take away any faith in God. And the devil has a plan. The devil is planning to attack you. The enemy has a plan. But God has a better one. And the enemy may try to keep you trapped.

Maybe it's in a private addiction. And God can take that private addiction. and turn that trial into a testimony, and you can declare that by the power and the stripes of Jesus, you have overcome that which held you hostage and bondage for years and years. The enemy may tell you to give up and stop praying and stop believing. I'm going to tell you right now, the miracle from God, the answer from God may be closer than you realize. The second banquet comes up, and Esther finally makes her move.

Verse 3 of chapter 7, we read this. she says to the king king if you found if i found favor with you your majesty and if it pleases you grant me my life this is my petition and spare my people this is my request and there it is she takes the wrist she finally says it i'm jewish too you're planning on killing all the jewish people if you do that you're killing me and then she helps the king recognize haman he's been playing you the whole time. He's the man behind all of this. And at that moment, the king sees it all. Haman has been working behind the scenes, trying to kill the people that are not even guilty. And so the king's furious. He storms out and he comes back in and he says, hang Haman. And Esther

710 tells us this. So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Boom, boom, take that. So I want to talk to those of you that are doing the right thing. And you're not seeing results yet. And you're discouraged because you've been faithful for a long time. And you're seeking God and you're praying and you're serving and you're believing for a miracle. I'm going to tell you right now, the breakthrough you're praying for, it may already be in motion. long before they ever knew what God was doing, God was working behind the scenes.

Because here's the thing about Providence. Remember what Providence is? It's when God uses natural circumstances to bring about his supernatural will. That's the work of God. Providence is best understood looking back. Remember the guy who took advantage of us on the van situation? Over a decade went by. and one week after preaching someone brought us a girl looked like she was college age and she was crying and she said she had just given her life to christ and someone wanted us to meet her and pray for and we were praying for her and she was she could just tell she was new she was changed she had

so much emotion she came seeking something and she found life in christ and she said oh my gosh i just wanted to meet you and tell you thank you thank you thank you she said years ago you probably don't remember but amy hit my dad's car i said well honestly i actually do remember that. And praying for the chance to make things right for all these years and tried do the right thing. And if you like to introduce me to him, can lay hands on them in the name of Father, Son, Holy Spirit. So I said, oh, yeah, vaguely, vaguely, I remember something about that. And she said, yeah, I don't have a good relationship with my dad. And he said, I'm going to squeeze them because they're the pastor of the church and kind of told his family he's going to go after us and

and try to take advantage of us. And she said, you guys were so kind to him. And the whole time, we could just hear the way you're treating him. And you sent us money. And we all knew you weren't guilty. And he knew you weren't guilty. And he was just playing you. And you just loved on him and sent him a nice note and said that you were praying for the family.

And she said, I just remembered that. He was trying to play you. And you did the right thing. Years and years went by. And she said, I was dealing with mental health issues and depressed. and not sure if I wanted to live. And so I thought, maybe I'll try that one couple's church. And the very thing that I thought didn't matter

and went unnoticed was something that God used in the life of a young girl to bring her to faith in Christ. And so I want you to feel it in your own life. And when I tell you this, it's like I'm in bed at two in the morning trying to think, how can I get this from my heart into theirs? that even when you don't see it, God is working,

even when you don't feel it, God is working, even when it looks like everything's going backward, God is still good. He's been doing this throughout history, all the way back to a hill outside of Jerusalem, when the enemy crucified Jesus, the son of God, and the tomb was sealed, and the disciples wept thinking the game is over.

and then nothing happened. Day one. Day two, it looked like God was doing nothing. And you know how this one goes. Three days later, when the stone was rolled away, the body of Jesus was not there because by the power of God,

he was raised from the dead. And what was supposed to be the death of the son of God became the way for you, for me to have each time. life. And the very same God that raised Jesus from the dead is the same God working in your life at this very moment. And so please, this is for somebody, not everybody, but for somebody here, you've been faithful for a long time. And maybe you've been praying for someone who's far from

God and you see no change whatsoever in their lives. Or you're serving faithfully and it seems like it's not making a difference. You're doing the right thing. It seems like nobody notices. Maybe you're working on your marriage, and it seems like you're the only one. Or you're giving your best at work, and you feel invisible.

And you're not bitter. You're just tired. And you're wondering, does any of it matter? And I want to tell you, it matters. It matters to God. And God sees every single bit of it, because what's unnoticed by people is still noticed by God.

And what's crazy is that God's name doesn't appear anywhere in the book of Esther. But his presence and power is everywhere on every page. See it. See it with me. What do we have? The drunk king. The orphan girl. the sleepless night, the boring book, and the forgotten act.

None of it seems important, but none of it is accidental. Why? Because nothing faithful is ever forgotten. So when you get up early and you cry out to God, he hears the cries of your heart. when you keep praying and heaven seems silent, he hears your prayers. When you keep serving and no one notices, what you do to the least of these, you're actually doing unto him.

Not one moment is wasted. Not one moment, not one prayer is forgotten. And so whenever that voice tells you, it doesn't matter. Walk away. God doesn't care. God doesn't see it. Remind yourself, the devil is a liar.

What's unnoticed by people is never forgotten by God. And I don't know who this is for, but let me tell you right now, when sleep flees, I'm praying for you. And when you do what's right, God sees you. God notices. You are not forgotten. and God isn't finished yet. Even when you don't see it, he's working. And the same God working in that story,

he's working in yours at this very moment. So Father, we thank you that you're a good God, that you're always faithful. And God, I pray that your Holy Spirit would minister to hearts today in a way that only you could do. All of our churches today, I would love to pray for you. And I would ask you, just think about it before you raise your hand, but raise your hand if you're doing the right thing and you're waiting to see the result. Maybe you've been believing God for something for years and you haven't seen it yet.

If that's you and you want prayer today, would you lift up your hands right now? All of our churches, lift them up, lift them up, lift them up, lift them up. Those of you online, you can just say, please pray for me. please pray for me. I'm going to pray for you and then I would just ask you to pray for me, if you wouldn't mind, and I'll tell you how you can pray for me, is that 30-something years in, the burden of the pastor's heart is becoming so heavy that it hurts almost more than I can bear. And if you can just pray for me for God's presence to sustain us, that would mean the world. And now, Father, I pray for the flock that you've entrusted to our care.

We thank you that you are the good shepherd that knows every sheep, knows their name, knows their hurts, knows their heart. And, God, I pray for those especially who have been faithful, serving you, asking, begging, praying for a miracle, believing for provision, God. And we thank you that you hear the cries of their hearts. And, God, maybe you've already released the miracle from heaven. God, we believe that you are faithful. that even when we can't see it, you're working.

And so, God, we put our trust in you. God, we thank you that even when we are faithless, your word tells us that you are always faithful. So we give you praise, God, for who you are. Work in the hearts of those who need to hear from you, we pray. We thank you in the name of your risen son. As you keep praying today, nobody looking around. Maybe there are some of you who,

if we would just sat down and talked and I said, How are you with God? You might hesitate. How are you with God? And you hesitate. And you might realize that there's a lot going on in your life that's pointing you toward him. If you don't know where you stand with God, if you feel distant, if you've got questions or heaviness, or maybe feel guilty for your sin. What I want to tell you right now is you are not here by accident.

One day you may look back and see the providence of God. It's best viewed when you're saying. look back and realize you're not here by accident. And I want to tell you about God's love for you. If you don't know where you stand with God, hear the love of this message, for God so loved you that he sent his one and only son, Jesus, that whosoever believes in him would not perish, but have eternal life. Who is Jesus? He is the sinless son of God. He's called the Lamb of God, who was slain on a cross for the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus died in our place for our filth, for our sins.

He died in our place, the perfect sacrifice for us. He paid the penalty for our sins, and God raised him from the dead so that anyone, hear me, anyone, and this includes you, no matter what you've done, no matter how dark your life feels, no matter how far God feels away from you right now, anyone who calls on the name of the risen Lord Jesus Christ, your sins would be forgiven and you would be made brand new. Jesus came for you. Today at all of our churches, there are those of you.

I want you just to think about it. A lot's been pointing toward this moment. You are not here by accident. You can see it. We look at the story of the Esther, a boring book, a drunk king, a band, queen, a Jewish orphan girl. You look at your life and you can see it, a hurt, a loss, a betrayal, an opportunity, a disappointment. Everything's pointing toward this moment right now. You need a Savior. His name is Jesus. If you're here today and you don't know where you stand

with God, we're going to step away from our sins and we're going to surrender our life to Jesus. If we confess our sins, the Bible says, God is faithful and just to forgive us of all of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness when you call on Jesus. He doesn't just make you better. He makes you new. The old is gone and the new is here to all of our churches. If that's you today, you need him, you need his forgiveness.

You don't know where you stand with God. You are not here by accident. Today is the day of your salvation. All of our churches you say, that's me. I know it. It's me. Today is the day. Today is the day.

Today is the day. I say, yes. Jesus, be the Savior, the Lord of my life. That's your prayer. Lift your hand high right now. All over the place and say yes. That's me. Lift up your hands and say yes, Jesus.

Right back over there. God bless you over here as well. Others today, right back here. Come on. Others say right back over here. Praise God for you. God bless you. Others today say, yes, Jesus, save me. I surrender my life to you. Online, you can type in the comment sections. I'm surrendering my life to Jesus. And we're going to pray church. Nobody prays alone. Just pray aloud. Heavenly Father, forgive all of my sins. Save me, Jesus. Be my Lord and my rescuer. fill me with your spirit so I could walk with you

and I could know you personally my life is not my own I give it all to you thank you for new life in Jesus name I pray church can you worship a good God today