Esther is one of my favorite books in the whole Bible, but probably for a different reason than you may think. The reason I love it so much is because, although God is not mentioned in the book, it's filled with so many intricate details unmistakably woven together by the hand of God to fulfill His covenant promise to protect and save His people.
Esther was an Israelite born into a family that had been taken into exile in Babylon decades earlier, and her cousin, Mordecai, had been taking care of her since the time her parents passed away. During the time of Esther, King Xerxes had chosen an evil and corrupt official to become second in power to himself. This corrupt man, named Haman, hated the Jews, and he especially hated Esther's cousin, Mordecai. Haman was able to convince the king to decree a royal and irreversible edict to destroy all the Jews (the king didn't know Esther was Jewish at that time). He also devised a plot to convince the king to kill Mordecai, BUT GOD had already set a plan in motion years earlier to intervene, not only on Mordecai's behalf but on behalf of all the Jews!
Years before Haman's evil plots, King Xerxes was looking for a new wife, and Esther just so happened to be one of the hundreds (or potentially thousands!) of women brought to the king for consideration. Not only did Esther win the favor of the king's attendants, but "...Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her," (2:15) including the king, and he just so happened to make her his new queen. Because of this, Esther was in the perfect position at the perfect time to reveal Haman's wicked schemes to the king and have them overturned. And what's even more amazing is that the evil plans Haman had for Mordecai and the Jews happened to him instead!
The best part is that it was all orchestrated by God from the beginning of time, and it was set in motion far before any of these events occurred. It wasn't Esther or Mordecai who saved God's people, but God who saved His people by working in every detail of Esther and Mordecai's lives to place them in the perfect positions at the perfect time to rescue the Israelites from destruction.
Those are only a few of the many details God orchestrates in the book of Esther, and there are many others. For example, on the day Haman planned to convince the king to kill Mordecai, through a turn of events arranged by God, the king required Haman to honor Mordecai at the highest level throughout the city (Esther 6:1-11). No one can align every detail to bring justice on the heads of His enemies and to fulfill His good promises to His people the way our God does!
Even in these few examples, we can unmistakably see God's care for the details of His people's lives and His hand at work on their behalf far before the story of Esther ever took place. What these examples show us about God is that He is trustworthy to keep His word and His covenant with His people. That He is good and works all things out for the good of His children. That He is in control and sovereign over every detail of His children's lives. And that He is faithful to fulfill His good plans and promises.
Because of who He is, we can trust Him with the details of our lives, knowing that He knows what we need before we ask, that He will be faithful to fulfill every word and promise to us, and that He is working out every detail to accomplish His good purposes for us. Because of who He is, we can confidently trust and rest in our good Father, knowing that He not only cares about every detail of our lives, but that He is actively at work in each one! ♥
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