Hatred That Spreads

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 143, Hatred That Spreads.

"But he disdained to lay hands on Mordecai alone. So, as they had made known to him the people of Mordecai, Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordecai, throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus." Esther 3:6.

Let me tell you how we got here. In the previous chapter, Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman. Everyone else was bowing — it was protocol, it was the custom of the court. But Mordecai, out of conviction, would not. And Haman grew furious. Not ordinary anger — an anger that swelled a little more every single day Mordecai kept his knee unbent.

And this is where the story becomes a warning for all of us: Haman "disdained" to touch only Mordecai. Notice that word. He disdained it — thought it beneath him, not enough. Wounded pride rarely settles for a small target. It always reaches for more. It always seeks a revenge bigger than the original offense. And that is how one personal dispute — one man who wouldn't bow to another — became a plot to exterminate an entire people, scattered across a whole empire.

That is chilling to read, but it's also deeply human. How often do we see this happen on a smaller scale? A grudge that starts between two people and, left unresolved, spreads to poison entire families, entire generations. Evil, when it isn't checked, escalates. It never stays the size it started as.

And here is something I want you to notice carefully: Esther is the only book in the entire Bible that never mentions God's name. Not once. And yet, if you look closely, you can see His hand in every single detail — in Esther's exact position in the palace, in the coincidence that is no coincidence, in the plot's structure moving steadily toward its turning point. God doesn't need to appear on the page to be present in the story. Sometimes He is working hardest exactly when He seems most absent.

And look at this: this verse, the darkest in the whole book — the moment the extermination plot is born — is exactly the point where God is already positioning the rescue. Esther is already in the palace. Mordecai is already positioned. The pieces are already in place before the danger is even revealed. The darkness of verse six is not the end of the story. It is the stage on which God's providence will be revealed most clearly a few chapters later.

So, my friend, here is what this story teaches me today — and what I want to challenge you to carry with you: be careful with small resentment. The kind that seems manageable, justifiable, small. Because the hatred Haman carried also started small — one offense, one knee that wouldn't bend. And he let it grow until it became a plot against an entire people.

Before breakfast today, name one resentment you've been feeding. It might be small. It might even seem reasonable. But hand it to God right now, before it grows and takes up space it was never meant to have. You don't have to carry it. God is already working behind the scenes of your story, even when it feels like He's silent.

Stay close to God. Surrender it — then trust the hidden providence. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.