On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him. - Esther 1:10-12 (ESV)

Do you ever look around this world and wonder where God is in all of this? Does it feel like he is absent? Or maybe He just doesn't care? It's not an uncommon feeling even among honest Christians. Did you know there is a book of the Bible where God is absent. It's the only one where He is never even mentioned.

This Sunday, I'm happy to have Jonathan Haefs with us. He is the pastor of Shades Valley Community Church in Birmingham. It's our sister EFCA church in the state. This Sunday he will be with you to open up the book of Esther. In this book God is unseen and unspoken. But is He uninvolved? What might this narrative tell us about our day? And what might it encourage us to consider when we feel like He isn't here?