Daily EncouragementSample

Mordecai’s question contains what are probably the best known words in this book. They pinpoint its message about the providence of God. The circumstances, from a human point of view, had nothing to do with God. Esther was there because, out of a bevy of beautiful girls, she had been selected by the king, and he had made her queen instead of Vashti, who had offended him. From Mordecai’s viewpoint the circumstances had everything to do with God. He saw that the Lord had put Esther in this key position at an hour of crisis, when the Jewish people were in peril. The man who sees the kingdom of God, as Mordecai did, whose confidence is in divine providence, ultimately has no need to fear. Even if Esther had failed, God would not have failed: “For if you remain silent, at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place” (Esth. 4:14). Believing in God’s providence as to place and position and timing does not exclude his servants from taking risks. Such risks are part of the essence of faith: “I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish (Esth. 4:16).