As Haman left the first banquet, he was flying high. That is until he passed Mordecai who, you guessed it, would not stand up and greet him. In response to this, Haman went from confident to enraged.  It is amazing as humans how fickle we can be. When Haman got home, he and his wife, along with a couple of friends, discussed this slight from Mordecai and devised a plan. Haman decided to build gallows to impale Mordecai on! After all, he was Haman, the king’s buddy, as well as the guy Queen Esther had invited to not one, but two private banquets! Haman felt he could do whatever he wanted. Yet while Haman and his friends were scheming, God was working.

Esther came to the realization that she wasn’t put in this place for herself; God arranged the circumstances according to His will and His plan. I am sure He delighted in blessing Esther with the Cinderella story she lived, but that wasn’t the purpose of why He raised her up.

Let’s pause the story for a moment. How would you have responded to your uncle’s report? It sounds like the whole of the Jewish people were hanging their hopes on Esther. Her first response appeared to be panic. Everyone knew, Esther included, that going to the King without being summoned was a death sentence; and he had not been too interested in seeing her lately! I think we all like to dream that we would rise to the occasion ourselves if it were presented to us, but if we are being honest, self-preservation is the usual response.

The more I grow in my walk with the Lord the more I realize that God knows, understands, and sees so much more than I could ever comprehend. He has a perfect plan, and my job is to submit my will, my mind and soul, to His sovereignty. This would be frightening, except that the character of God is complete goodness, love, justice, and mercy. His ways are higher than ours and we can trust what He is doing, even when it doesn’t make sense from our limited perspective.

Around 500 BC the King of Persia was throwing a party.  Persia was an area stretching from the upper Nile region all the way through India. Xerxes, known for his heavy drinking and quick temper, had been partying for 180 days; that is not a misprint.