“When the turn came for Esther the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his own daughter, to go into the king, she asked for nothing except what Hegai the king's eunuch, who had charge of the women, advised. Now Esther was winning favor in the eyes of all who saw her.” Esther 2:15
Have you ever wondered why your feet fall where they do? Have you ever wondered why you seem to randomly meet the people you do when you do? For those that have never met Jesus random encounters will be described as luck, chance, coincidence, or serendipity. New agers will even simply dismiss it as the universe doing what it does. But for those that have called upon Jesus Christ as savior, the truth has been revealed to them. God created everything, He orchestrates everything, and He orders everything for His specific purpose. For those that follow Christ there is no such thing as coincidence, only Godly providence. I’ve heard God’s providence defined in several ways. “The means by which God directs all things, both animate and inanimate, seen and unseen, good and evil, towards His perfect purpose.” Or, one that has manifested in my own life, “the way God leads a man that will not be led.”
In Esther chapter 2 we see more of the latter as God is leading Esther and her cousin Mordecai, unknowingly, into a situation that will eventually save the Israelite people from annihilation. As king Xerxes is looking to replace his deposed queen, a kingdom wide beauty pageant is held to select the most striking of all women. And if God giving Esther striking looks isn’t enough, we see a myriad of providential moments follow her from the inception of the contest all the way to the royal crown being placed upon her head. She moves through the thousands of candidates and ends up as a finalist in the palace. God’s providence. She ends up drawing the perfect valet, Hegai, and quickly earns his favor and friendship, God’s providence. As a result, she draws the best food, prime beauty supplies, and front row placement in front of the king. No, not an accident or just good luck, God’s providence. But in a very remarkable verse we see just how Esther handled walking in Godly providence. She accepted it, humbly. She didn’t rock the boat; she didn’t demand her own way. She simply followed the wise counsel God had given her. God had providentially placed Hegai in her path to move her into the throne next to the king and Esther was wise enough to listen. Hegai offered her the best chance to get to the throne and she took all that he offered with grace and humility.
Today even if you are out of God’s will, His desire is to pull you into it. And to do that He will providentially move people, places, and situations in your life. Your job in this? Just like Esther, it’s to listen to the wise counsel God provides and walk in it. And as you do, pray that God might reveal His providence to you. So that you’ll no longer be walking within a veil, but be allowed to see the very hand of God guiding you in every single instance of your life. For even though God’s hand guides all in this world, it is much more of a blessing to see it, watch it, and praise Him for it.
“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” Proverbs 16:9
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