On that night, the king could not sleep and he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the Chronicles, and they were read before the king and it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bena and resh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold and who had sought to lay hands on King Ahu.
– Esther 6:1–2
Oh, I love these verses. Get the picture. One night it just so happens that the king is having a hard time sleeping, and he’s like, somebody read a book to me. And so they go and find this book out of all the books on the shelf. But this book contains this story about how Mordecai had saved the king’s life. And the story goes on to say in Esther 6 that nobody had ever honored Mordecai for this, which was unusual when it happened.
Esther 6:1–2 shows us that we can trust God to work even while we sleep.
But the king realizes this in the middle of the night and he decides, well, I need to honor Mordecai, and this is happening. At the same time, Haman is plotting to murder Mordecai, and a collision is about to come about. And the next morning when the king decides to honor Mordecai in a way that is going to shame Haman, oh, don’t miss it.
There are no accidents in the sovereign plan of God. It just so happens that the king has a bad night’s sleep and the king wants a book read to him, and this book just so happens to be the one that’s read to him on this night. You can trust in God even while you’re sleeping, even while others are sleeping, to know that God is working to accomplish his good purposes in the world. This is such a rock solid foundation to stand on and to live on.
For you to know that today God is in control, that God is sovereign over the details in your life and that when you lay your head on your pillow tonight, you can trust in him. You can trust in how he’s working as you sleep and as others sleep, he does not sleep. Isaiah 40 says He does not slumber. Instead, he is always, always, always, whether we realize it or not, whether we are conscious or not, God is always working in the details for the good of his people and the glory of His name.
Esther 6:1–2 encourages us to trust God for the details of our lives.
So we pray, oh God, we trust in you. We think about laying our head on our pillow at night. God, we trust in you while we sleep. We trust that you are working as we’re sleeping and as we wake up in the morning and we go throughout our day, we trust that you are working in our waking and in every single moment of our lives that you are orchestrating working together details beyond what we can imagine, God, for our good for others, good for your glory.
What a rock-solid foundation you have given us. God, we praise you as the sovereign ruler over the universe, the one who calls the stars by name, who rules all creation, who rules all nations, who rules all the details of our lives. We praise you that you the sovereign one, are all wise. God, we praise you that you are loving, that you are merciful, that you are just, that you are righteous and you oh God are trustworthy.
This verse challenges us to total confidence.
We trust you with our lives. Lord, we trust you with the details of our lives. We trust you with the world and all that’s going on in it. We stand on you. Help us to live today just total confidence, humble confidence in you to live and to sleep and to get up the next day to trusting in you and surrender to you, oh God, spend our lives however you want.
Work the details of our lives. And even if somebody doesn’t recognize this or that they didn’t recognize Mordecai years before this, we trust that you are working, you’re working even when we’re waiting, even when we don’t understand that you’re working. Oh God, we pray for people around us who don’t have this kind of foundation to stand on. Help us to point people to you, Jesus, one with all authority and have it on earth who has died on the cross and risen from the grave to give us this hope. Help us to share the gospel with somebody today.
Prayer for the Rahmani People
God, we pray for the spread of this gospel to the Rahmani people of India, this Muslim people group, Urdu-speaking people group 339,000 of them, no known followers of Jesus. God, we pray that they would experience the hope that is found in you alone. Jesus, please cause the Rahmani of India to be reached with the gospel. We pray all of this according to your word and your work in Esther 6:1–2. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
