Tony Evans - Pathways: From Providence to Purpose

Copyright 2019 by Tony Evans

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

978-1-4336-8660-3

Published by B&H Publishing Group

Nashville, Tennessee

Dewey Decimal Classification: 231.5

Subject Heading: PROVIDENCE AND GOVERNMENT OF GOD / CHRISTIAN LIFE / ESTHER, QUEEN

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Christian Standard Bible, copyright 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible and CSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Also used: New American Standard Bible (

nasb

), copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

Also used: New International Verions (

niv

), copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Also used: King James Version (

kjv

), public domain.

Chapter One Note: portions are lifted from The Kingdom Agenda, Moody Publishers, 1,000 words.

Cover design by Faceout Studio. Imagery istock/releon8211, shutterstock/Emre Tarimcioglu, and shutterstock/rustamank. Author photo Joshua Farris.

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Acknowledgments

I want to thank my friends at B&H Publishing, particularly Jennifer Lyell, Devin Maddox, and Taylor Combs for their work in seeing this project come to life on these pages. My appreciation also goes out to Heather Hair, on this monumental fiftieth book and/or Bible study we have completed together, for her skills and insights in collaboration on this manuscript.

Everybody loves a story.

A good story. A grand story. A spectacular story. A story of mystery, intrigue, suspense, and surprise with, of course, some sparkle spread within.

Such is the story of Esther.

Such is the story of Gideon.

Such is the story of Cinderella.

Such is the story of Pederson.

Now, stick with meeven if youve never heard of the name Pederson. I realize this name may have thrown you a bit. And while you might not recognize who he is, I would wager that you will recognize what he did.

But lets start with someone else first. Lets start with someone we all know.

Cue Cinderella.

Cinderella is a fictional character who somehow comes across as more real than many people we know. Maybe its because we can identify with the hope of her story. We long for her trajectory to be our own. Cinderella started out living with a wicked stepmother and two equally wicked stepsisters. Essentially, she was made to live as a slave. The problem with Cinderella was that she got stuck there. She became locked in a situation which she had no control to change.

But you know how the story turns, twists, and flips for the characters involved. You know about the ball, and that through a series of miraculous interventions, she was transported to the ball in a carriage. There she met a prince. The prince saw Cinderella and loved her. But the problem in the story, as you know, is that the clock struck midnight. When the clock hit midnight, she reverted back to her old place. She became a slave again to an evil stepmother and two evil stepsisters.

The amazing part of Cinderellas story is that the prince never forgot her. Even though there had been a lot of people at the ball, there was something about her that made her stand out from the crowd. She was special. She was unique. She was rare. Everyone wanted the prince, but the prince wanted Cinderella.

All he had to work with in order to find her again, though, was a shoe that she had left behind. If he could find the foot that fit the shoe, he would have found Cinderella. So he set out going house to house in search of his princess. After a long and hard search, the prince finally found Cinderella. And, as the story goes, they lived happily ever after.

Hers is a rags-to-riches story whose familiarity is nearly equal to us all. Hers is a great story, which lights up the eyes of hearers from toddlers to adults. But her story is fiction. Its not true. The one Im about to tell you is as true as they come. Its not about a prince or a princess. But it does end with a trip to a castle, if that helps. Its about Pederson, a man most of you may not know at all.

Even if you are one of those few who doesnt follow football or fancy sports, most people do know who wins the annual showdown known as the Super Bowl. Nearly half of all Americans tune in, according to Nielson. Headlines dominate friends social media posts and the actual news alike for weeks on end. Its hard to miss who grabbed that shiny silver trophy at the end of each season. Especially when it is an upset. Especially when it is an unexpected win. Especially when an underdog comes out on top, or perhaps (in the case of Doug Pederson) we can call them an underbird.

Pederson did coach the Eagles, after all. And the Eagles did pull off one of the most unexpected victories of all time in the 20172018 NFL season. In fact, they did it more than once; they did it thrice. Yes, three times.

The Eagles were officially the underdogs going into each of their three post-season playoff games. No one thought they could win. Each and every week, no one believed they could beat the team that had been pitted against them. No one gave them any chance at all. Except for them, that is.

But Im getting ahead of myself.

Why did no one give this team a chance, despite a winning record on the season and home-field advantage in two of the three games? Well, in football, you need to know that the quarterback is king. In fact, many consider him to be the most critical player on the field. Thats why quarterbacks get paid the largest salaries. They can carry a team on their shoulders or toss them away for a loss simply based on how they play. Lose your star quarterback and you may just lose the entire season.

Take a look at the Green Bay Packers in the same season, as an example. Heading into week six of the NFL season, they had four wins to just one loss under the prowess of their quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Yet after Rodgers broke his collarbone in that game, the team tallied up only three wins to a whopping eight losses in the remainder of the season. Lose the king and you lose the chance at getting the victory crown.

Or so they say.

Which is exactly what they did say about Pedersons Eagles when their star quarterback, Carson Wentz, went down and out with a season-ending injury and still two games left in the year. While the Eagles had been on the pathway to the playoffs up until that time, nearly everyoneincluding myselfwrote them off after that. After all, how could any team make it to the Super Bowl on the arm of a backup quarterback?

Not only that, but Coach Pederson had only been a head coach in the NFL for two years. In fact, a decade earlier he was coaching a Christian high school team. Yes, high school. And a decade before coaching high school? Well, Pederson was just a backup quarterback in the same city (Philadelphia) for the same team (Eagles) he now coached in the playoffs. And sure, while most people might assume thats actually a good thing, it wasnt in Pedersons case.