WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.080 Welcome to Pomoja Podcast, a ministry of Life 00:00:03.080 --> 00:00:05.320 of Christ International Ministries, where we 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:08.000 build stronger lives, deeper faith, and Christ 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:10.560 -centered homes through biblical teaching, practical 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:13.320 wisdom, and life -changing conversations. I'm 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:16.399 your host, Barry Mwamba. Today, we continue our 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:18.280 conversation about one of the most beautiful 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:21.039 truths found throughout the Scriptures, the providence 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:24.140 of God, His invisible hand quietly directing 00:00:24.140 --> 00:00:26.899 history, while ordinary people simply believe 00:00:26.899 --> 00:00:29.600 they're living another ordinary day. So far, 00:00:29.629 --> 00:00:31.890 We've discovered that God works through betrayal. 00:00:32.350 --> 00:00:34.649 Joseph. We've discovered that God works through 00:00:34.649 --> 00:00:37.469 waiting. Moses. We've discovered that God often 00:00:37.469 --> 00:00:40.789 hides great assignments inside ordinary responsibilities. 00:00:41.210 --> 00:00:44.170 David. We've discovered that sometimes our calling 00:00:44.170 --> 00:00:47.850 begins with a burden. Nehemiah. Today, I want 00:00:47.850 --> 00:00:50.109 to take you even deeper because there are moments 00:00:50.109 --> 00:00:52.609 in life when it feels as though heaven has gone 00:00:52.609 --> 00:00:56.530 silent. No answers. No miracles. No open doors. 00:00:56.850 --> 00:00:59.969 No explanation. Just silence. What do you do 00:00:59.969 --> 00:01:02.810 when God seems silent? There is one book in the 00:01:02.810 --> 00:01:05.370 Bible that has always fascinated me, the book 00:01:05.370 --> 00:01:07.650 of Esther. Do you know what's remarkable about 00:01:07.650 --> 00:01:11.950 it? God's name never appears. Not once. No miracle. 00:01:12.310 --> 00:01:15.950 No prophet. No burning bush. No angel. No audible 00:01:15.950 --> 00:01:18.769 voice. Nothing. If someone were reading the story 00:01:18.769 --> 00:01:21.730 quickly, they might conclude that God is absent. 00:01:21.989 --> 00:01:24.250 But the more carefully you read, the more you 00:01:24.250 --> 00:01:27.170 realize He is everywhere. You just have to learn. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:30.099 to recognize his fingerprints. Think about it. 00:01:30.219 --> 00:01:32.799 A Jewish orphan is raised by her cousin Mordecai. 00:01:33.099 --> 00:01:35.700 She becomes queen. Not because she planned it. 00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:38.200 Not because she campaigned for it. Not because 00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:40.900 she dreamed of becoming queen. She simply found 00:01:40.900 --> 00:01:43.620 herself where Providence had placed her. Then, 00:01:43.900 --> 00:01:46.980 a wicked man named Haman develops a plan to destroy 00:01:46.980 --> 00:01:49.900 every Jew. Suddenly, everything that once seemed 00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:52.920 disconnected begins coming together. The orphan. 00:01:53.140 --> 00:01:57.040 The palace. The crown. Mordecai. The king. Every 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:00.319 chapter had been preparing for one moment. Then 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:03.120 Mordecai says words that echo through history. 00:02:03.400 --> 00:02:05.340 Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom 00:02:05.340 --> 00:02:08.460 for such a time as this? I love that verse because 00:02:08.460 --> 00:02:11.259 it reminds me that purpose is often discovered 00:02:11.259 --> 00:02:14.379 looking backward more than looking forward. Esther 00:02:14.379 --> 00:02:17.080 didn't know why life had unfolded the way it 00:02:17.080 --> 00:02:20.300 had until the moment arrived. Perhaps someone 00:02:20.300 --> 00:02:23.879 listening today is asking, Lord, why am I here? 00:02:24.139 --> 00:02:27.300 Why this job? Why this city? Why this season? 00:02:27.580 --> 00:02:30.500 Can I encourage you? Don't judge your story before 00:02:30.500 --> 00:02:32.939 God finishes writing it. Then there is Ruth, 00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:35.939 another ordinary woman, another ordinary day, 00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:39.280 another ordinary decision. She wakes up simply 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:42.020 looking for food. The Bible says she happened 00:02:42.020 --> 00:02:44.120 to come to the part of the field belonging to 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:47.639 Boaz. She happened? Really? From our perspective, 00:02:47.879 --> 00:02:50.740 perhaps. From heaven's perspective, absolutely 00:02:50.740 --> 00:02:53.800 not. She wasn't looking for Boaz. She was looking 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:57.099 for grain. God was doing both. She saw food. 00:02:57.340 --> 00:03:00.639 God saw a future husband. She saw survival. God 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:03.340 saw the lineage through which King David and 00:03:03.340 --> 00:03:06.439 eventually Jesus Christ would come into the world. 00:03:06.659 --> 00:03:09.319 Think about that. While Ruth was gathering grain, 00:03:09.560 --> 00:03:13.180 God was writing redemption history. That is providence. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:16.280 How many moments in our own lives feel completely 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:18.780 ordinary while heaven is accomplishing something 00:03:18.780 --> 00:03:21.780 extraordinary? One phone call, one interview, 00:03:22.139 --> 00:03:25.840 one invitation, one delay, one unexpected friendship. 00:03:25.930 --> 00:03:29.110 One conversation. Years later, you look back 00:03:29.110 --> 00:03:32.150 and realize that moment changed everything. I've 00:03:32.150 --> 00:03:34.729 come to believe something. God rarely wastes 00:03:34.729 --> 00:03:37.210 introductions. The people He allows into your 00:03:37.210 --> 00:03:40.330 life, the doors He opens, the doors He closes, 00:03:40.710 --> 00:03:43.189 the burdens He gives you, the opportunities He 00:03:43.189 --> 00:03:46.310 places before you, they are often connected long 00:03:46.310 --> 00:03:49.090 before you understand how. We usually understand 00:03:49.090 --> 00:03:52.449 providence looking backward, rarely while living 00:03:52.449 --> 00:03:54.689 it. There is something else I want you to notice. 00:03:54.889 --> 00:03:58.050 Esther never received a burning bush. Ruth never 00:03:58.050 --> 00:04:00.990 received an angel. Nehemiah never witnessed fire 00:04:00.990 --> 00:04:03.969 falling from heaven. Yet every one of them walked 00:04:03.969 --> 00:04:07.210 in God's will. Why? Because God is not limited 00:04:07.210 --> 00:04:10.830 to spectacular moments. Sometimes He leads through 00:04:10.830 --> 00:04:14.509 scripture. Sometimes through prayer. Sometimes 00:04:14.509 --> 00:04:17.529 through wisdom. Sometimes through conviction. 00:04:17.990 --> 00:04:20.670 Sometimes through a burden that refuses to leave 00:04:20.670 --> 00:04:23.990 your heart. Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice. 00:04:24.120 --> 00:04:26.839 Most believers will never hear an audible voice 00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:29.839 from heaven, but every believer who remains close 00:04:29.839 --> 00:04:32.600 to the shepherd can learn to recognize his leading. 00:04:32.899 --> 00:04:35.439 The more time you spend in God's Word, the more 00:04:35.439 --> 00:04:38.139 familiar his heart becomes. The more time you 00:04:38.139 --> 00:04:40.540 spend in prayer, the more sensitive your spirit 00:04:40.540 --> 00:04:43.779 becomes. The more you pursue holiness, the easier 00:04:43.779 --> 00:04:46.439 it becomes to recognize the direction of the 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:48.899 Holy Spirit. You may not always hear thunder, 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:51.740 but you will learn to recognize the shepherd. 00:04:52.139 --> 00:04:54.939 Let's talk about two more women who experienced 00:04:54.939 --> 00:04:57.920 exceptionally God's providence. The first one 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:01.120 is Rahab. Rahab's life story is one of those 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:04.000 stories almost nobody would expect God to use. 00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:07.199 When we first meet Rahab, she isn't living the 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:10.240 kind of life anyone would admire. Jericho is 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:13.459 under judgment. Israel is approaching. Everything 00:05:13.459 --> 00:05:16.660 around her is about to collapse. Then two spies 00:05:16.660 --> 00:05:19.839 arrive at her house. Was that coincidence? Out 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:23.430 of all the homes in Jericho, Why hers? Because 00:05:23.430 --> 00:05:26.790 Providence had already gone before them. Rahab 00:05:26.790 --> 00:05:30.449 made one decision. She chose faith. She believed 00:05:30.449 --> 00:05:33.069 in the God of Israel before she had ever seen 00:05:33.069 --> 00:05:35.750 the Red Sea, before she had crossed the Jordan, 00:05:36.209 --> 00:05:39.250 before she had witnessed a miracle herself. She 00:05:39.250 --> 00:05:42.529 believed simply because she recognized that the 00:05:42.529 --> 00:05:46.029 hand of God was moving. She hid the spies, hung 00:05:46.029 --> 00:05:48.829 a scarlet cord from her window. When the walls 00:05:48.829 --> 00:05:51.720 of Jericho fell, One house remained standing. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:54.939 Think about that. The entire city collapsed. 00:05:55.540 --> 00:05:58.540 One family was preserved. Not because Rahab had 00:05:58.540 --> 00:06:01.439 a perfect past, but because God had already written 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:04.740 a future greater than her past. Then something 00:06:04.740 --> 00:06:07.879 remarkable happened. Rahab didn't simply survive. 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:11.639 She became part of Israel. She married. She became 00:06:11.639 --> 00:06:15.180 the mother of Boaz. The same Boaz who would one 00:06:15.180 --> 00:06:18.339 day marry Ruth. And generations later, her name 00:06:18.339 --> 00:06:21.879 appears. in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Who 00:06:21.879 --> 00:06:24.639 could have imagined that? A woman from Jericho 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:27.199 becoming part of the family line of the Messiah. 00:06:27.879 --> 00:06:32.980 Tell me, was that coincidence? No, that is providence. 00:06:33.579 --> 00:06:37.600 God specializes in rewriting stories. Then there 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:40.899 is Hannah. Her story begins not with victory, 00:06:41.220 --> 00:06:44.540 but with tears. Year after year, she prayed. 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:48.639 Year after year, she waited. Year after year, 00:06:48.759 --> 00:06:51.459 She watched someone else receive what she longed 00:06:51.459 --> 00:06:54.439 for. Have you ever prayed and wondered if heaven 00:06:54.439 --> 00:06:57.459 was listening? Hannah knew that feeling. She 00:06:57.459 --> 00:07:00.360 didn't stop praying. She didn't stop worshiping. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:02.899 She kept bringing her pain into the presence 00:07:02.899 --> 00:07:07.199 of God. Then one day, God answered. Not simply 00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:10.079 because Hannah wanted a child, but because heaven 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:13.339 was preparing a prophet. Samuel wasn't only an 00:07:13.339 --> 00:07:16.319 answer to Hannah's prayer. Hannah was God's answer 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:20.009 to Israel. Think about that. While Hannah thought 00:07:20.009 --> 00:07:23.089 God was delaying her blessing, God was preparing 00:07:23.089 --> 00:07:26.329 a leader who would anoint kings, guide a nation, 00:07:26.730 --> 00:07:30.529 and change Israel's history. Sometimes our prayers 00:07:30.529 --> 00:07:33.529 are connected to purposes much bigger than ourselves. 00:07:34.230 --> 00:07:37.370 We ask God for one thing. He sees generations. 00:07:37.990 --> 00:07:41.290 We see today's pain. He sees tomorrow's harvest. 00:07:41.850 --> 00:07:46.000 That is Providence. When I look across the scriptures, 00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:49.759 I no longer see isolated stories. I see one author, 00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:53.939 one hand, one purpose. Joseph, Moses, David, 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:57.980 Nehemiah, Esther, Ruth, Rahab, Hannah. Different 00:07:57.980 --> 00:08:01.100 people, different generations, different circumstances, 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:04.639 yet one invisible hand guiding them all. The 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:08.019 same God who quietly guided them is quietly guiding 00:08:08.019 --> 00:08:11.980 you. Perhaps that's the greatest miracle of all. 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:14.600 Not that God speaks loudly. but that he walks 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:17.600 closely. Not that he explains everything, but 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:20.879 that he never leaves. His presence is often greater 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:23.860 than his explanations, because explanations answer 00:08:23.860 --> 00:08:28.620 questions. His presence gives peace. Before we 00:08:28.620 --> 00:08:30.779 close, I want to leave you with this thought. 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:34.019 Maybe today, your life feels like Esther's. You 00:08:34.019 --> 00:08:36.360 know God has placed you somewhere, but you still 00:08:36.360 --> 00:08:38.639 don't understand why. Perhaps you're asking, 00:08:38.659 --> 00:08:42.259 Lord, what is my purpose in this season? Or perhaps, 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:45.080 Your life feels like Ruth's. You're simply trying 00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:47.460 to be faithful, putting one foot in front of 00:08:47.460 --> 00:08:50.700 the other, doing ordinary things, not realizing 00:08:50.700 --> 00:08:53.559 that heaven is quietly writing an extraordinary 00:08:53.559 --> 00:08:56.980 story. Maybe you feel like Rahab. When you look 00:08:56.980 --> 00:08:59.639 at your past, you wonder whether God could ever 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:02.059 use someone like you. You see your failures. 00:09:02.379 --> 00:09:04.860 God sees your future. You remember where you've 00:09:04.860 --> 00:09:07.559 been. God is already preparing where he's taking 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:11.090 you. The God of Providence. specializes in rewriting 00:09:11.090 --> 00:09:14.350 stories. And maybe your heart feels like Hannah's. 00:09:14.350 --> 00:09:17.669 You've prayed. You've waited. You've cried. You've 00:09:17.669 --> 00:09:20.029 watched others receive what you've been asking 00:09:20.029 --> 00:09:22.710 God for. You wonder if heaven has forgotten your 00:09:22.710 --> 00:09:26.289 name. But Hannah reminds us that God's delays 00:09:26.289 --> 00:09:29.970 are not God's denials. Sometimes, while we're 00:09:29.970 --> 00:09:32.570 praying for a blessing, God is preparing a purpose 00:09:32.570 --> 00:09:35.149 far greater than we can imagine. Can I remind 00:09:35.149 --> 00:09:38.610 you that God's silence has never meant God's 00:09:38.610 --> 00:09:41.269 absence? Just because you cannot see his hand 00:09:41.269 --> 00:09:43.649 doesn't mean he has stopped writing your story. 00:09:44.049 --> 00:09:47.169 The author never loses the plot. And if you belong 00:09:47.169 --> 00:09:49.950 to Christ, your life is not a collection of random 00:09:49.950 --> 00:09:53.950 events. It is a story being written by the faithful 00:09:53.950 --> 00:09:57.590 hand of a sovereign God. Next time, we'll discover 00:09:57.590 --> 00:10:00.210 perhaps the greatest demonstration of God's providence 00:10:00.210 --> 00:10:03.409 ever revealed. We'll follow Paul through prisons, 00:10:03.990 --> 00:10:06.889 shipwrecks, and trials. Then we'll stand at Calvary 00:10:07.049 --> 00:10:08.929 where what appeared to be history's greatest 00:10:08.929 --> 00:10:11.870 tragedy became heaven's greatest victory. Because 00:10:11.870 --> 00:10:14.850 if God can transform a cross into salvation, 00:10:15.269 --> 00:10:18.070 imagine what he can do with your story. Until 00:10:18.070 --> 00:10:21.129 next time, keep trusting him. Keep walking by 00:10:21.129 --> 00:10:24.730 faith. And remember, God is still working, even 00:10:24.730 --> 00:10:27.730 when heaven seems silent. He is preparing while 00:10:27.730 --> 00:10:30.450 you are waiting. He is leading while you are 00:10:30.450 --> 00:10:33.149 wondering. And one day, you'll discover that 00:10:33.149 --> 00:10:35.750 nothing in the hands of God was ever wasted. 00:10:35.950 --> 00:10:38.789 Together in faith, together in Christ.