Selah: to pause; an interruption, to lift up.
Why’s it so easy to go throughout my day and get caught up in the routine? Why can I so easily forget about the things that are most important and be so focused on my hectic schedule? As they fade into the background, they become white noise. My relationship with God is no exception. And I hate that this is the norm if I’m not intentional with my day. But it’s a reality.
As I was thinking about Selah and how I could practically pause or interrupt my day in order to lift up my head to see God, a thought popped I to my head: my phone is almost always with me (which I mostly hate that, that’s the case). How could I use it to help me pause? And then I found it: an hourly alarm app. It chimes every hour to remind me to interrupt whatever I’m doing and pause to hear from the Lord. Brilliant!
God has used many things to teach me about this predisposition to schedule and distraction. One of those things is His word, specifically the book of Esther.
Esther 4:16 (LEB): “Go, gather all the Jews that are found in Susa and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, both night and day. I and my young girls will fast likewise, and then I will go to the king, which is not according to the law; if I perish, I perish.”
The book of Esther is one of my favorites in the Old Testament. Interestingly enough, the name of God is not mentioned once in the book. And all scripture is supposed to point us to God and help us to know Him more. So what does a book without mention of God teach us about God?
Imagine, with me, for a moment that you owned a business and an author came up to you and said, “I’d like to write a story that would help people to know who you are and what you’re like.” After taking him up on the offer, he goes on to write a story about your business without even using your name or alluding to you once. That wouldn’t seem like a great way to tell your story, right? But your fingerprints would be all over that story. And honestly, there would be no story without you. It would just take a little digging to find you in it.
The book of Esther is the same way. God’s fingerprints are all over the story but it can be a challenge to find them especially if we see Esther and Mordecai as the heroes of the story. The verse above, I think, is a good representation of the main point of the book. Esther asks for a fast to be held on her behalf. There’s no mention of prayer or God at all. Other religions of that time had similar practices. So what was the difference? If God’s name isn’t mentioned once, that was intentional by the author. We should not read His name into the fast or the other things these Jews are doing in the story. Instead, we should read it as the author purposefully and masterfully crafted it to be: God is seemingly absent from the forefront of this story.
So, where is God in this story? His fingerprints are everywhere! There would be no story without Him. Sometimes, just like Esther and Mordecai, I can get caught up in the flow of life-even in the flow of doing religious things. For me, the book of Esther is a call to Selah; to interrupt that flow and pause and lift my eyes up and notice Him. When I choose to Selah, I notice Him and His fingerprints all over my day! But also, just like the characters of the story, I have the option to go about my day and with my religion and miss Him. I refuse to let the story of my life not even have mention of God’s name. I refuse to even let it just have His fingerprints on it. I refuse to just do religion. I want my story to shout His name; where I can’t help but mention His name every time I tell my story!
That’s the life I want to live. So I’ll let Esther and Mordecai’s life be a warning to mine-to not settle for God’s handiwork in the background of my life. He’s always faithful to work no matter what life I choose. But I’m interested in abundant life! So I’ll keep doing my “Selah Moments” so I can refocus on what I really want and what really matters.
Now I’d like to give you an invitation. Will you join me in my pursuit of a more abundant life? Will you join me in my Selah Moments? Will you refuse to let the story of your life be read without God’s name present? God will bless such a pursuit as He has already begun to bless mine! I hope and pray your answer is, “Yes!”
