1. What Am I Chopped Liver? Seeing God When God Can’t Be Seen Esther 6 & 7

3. What does it feel like when you think you’re being treated like a side dish, and how does it affect your relationship with that person? –When a person will not notice your efforts, will not acknowledge your efforts, will not appreciate your efforts, will not reward your efforts....its hard to keep going the right direction for any of us.

4. What do you do when the person who doesn’t seem to notice your efforts, and doesn’t seem to appreciate your efforts is your God? –Here you’ve got Mordecai and Esther, people who have been trying to live for God...and not only are they not receiving notice or appreciation for what they’ve done....they both are facing death sentences right in the face....and in the case of Mordecai, his is tomorrow.

5. Remember our point for this series: Even when it seems that God cannot be seen, He is sovereignly working all things for His glory and our good. Today’s Main Point – IN GOD’S TIME, WHAT IS SOWED WILL BE REAPED.

6. I.Those Who Sow Righteousness Shall Be Rewarded. One of the major themes in the Bible is the principle of sowing and reaping. –There are present, future, and eternal consequences for the choices a person makes in life...God’s Word is very clear about that. –The ultimate act of sowing and reaping is what you’re trusting in for your eternal destiny

7. By coming to Him in repentance and faith, at the moment of salvation you begin a life-long process of sowing the imputed righteousness of Christ, you are now promised the harvest of a marvelous place called heaven. We need to add to our understanding the words…in God’s time. –One of the things we need to recognize is that just because God isn’t working on our time table that doesn’t mean God is not acting at all.

8. II.Those Who Sow Unrighteousness Shall be Judged. Many of the truths in the Word of God are two-edged swords, and the way they impact an individual is dependent entirely on the spiritual condition that person brings to the table.

9. One of the lies of the devil is that you can ignore God, you can displease God, you can sin against God, and there will be no consequences –either He’s not smart enough to know.... –or loving enough to care.... –or powerful enough to do anything about it.... –Remember Haman....those who sow unrighteousness shall be judged.

10. When situations happen to us that are similar to this one with Mordecai and Esther…when people treat us like we are chopped liver…when God does chose to act, we have to fight against the attitude of “its about time they got what they deserved.” –See the sad part is people like Haman don’t take the opportunity to learn the principles of sowing and reaping like God is trying to teach us.

11. What about your effort at growing and pleasing Him? –Pastors spend a lot of time dealing with believers who don’t seem to take their relationship with Jesus Christ very seriously... That’s reflected in their lack of growth, their lack of study of the Scriptures, their lack of serving, their lack of solving problems quickly, their lack of giving...

12. III.The Best Guidance for Proper Sowing is the Unfailing Word of God. How did God want these events to impact the people of that day? –Their attention would have been turned to the authority and trustworthiness of God’s Word. –Both Esther and Mordecai sowed righteous acts because of their faith in the unfailing nature of the Word of God

13. What we are talking about here this morning is the simple law of the harvest. –You cannot reap what you do not sow… –You can’t sow unrighteousness all day long and then complain when you reap a harvest of corruption in your life.

14. Life Step Order your life by the principles and promises of God’s Word… –What area(s) of your life right now is/are just shouting out for your attention? –What are you sowing in your relationship with your spouse, children, co-workers, etc. –Your attitudes and actions?

15. Final Thought Sowing righteousness will always reap a harvest of blessing…sowing unrighteousness will always reap a harvest of judgment…both harvests will always happen in God’s time.