The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it whatever way He wishes. Proverbs 21:1 NKJV
The lot is cast into the lap, but it’s every decision is from the LORD. Proverbs 16:33 NKJV
We have been studying the book of Esther in our Sunday School class. It is one of my favorite books. Like many books of the Bible, it shows us how God controls all things. He even controls the hearts of kings.
In the book of Esther, it shows how God protects His people against their enemies, allows them to defeat their enemies and gives them high standing in the land and the government. The same happened in Genesis with Joseph and also in the book of Daniel with Daniel and his friends.
The Bible tells us we are not to fret over evildoers (Psalm 37:1, Proverbs 24:19). In Philippians 3:2 Paul warned the church at Philippi to beware of evil doers. We must be on our guard against them, but we should not fear them.
We are told in numerous passages not to fear. One of my favorites is Isaiah 41:10 which says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
Back in Genesis 12:3, when God called Abraham, he made an unconditional promise to Abraham and his descendants. He told Abraham he will bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him. We saw God keep this promise not only in Esther but throughout the Bible.
We saw God controlling the hearts of kings in Genesis when Joseph was put second in command by the Pharaoh in Egypt. We saw it again in Exodus with the Pharaoh confronted by Moses. And we saw it throughout the Bible. In the book of Daniel, God always gave Daniel favor with every king he served under.
In the book of Esther, this young Jewish girl was made queen. She was given such high favor with the king; he did anything and everything she asked of him. Thus, allowing her to save her people and destroy their enemies in the process.
We could save ourselves a lot of worry by accepting that God’s got this. He is in complete control. His will is going to be done. He will even use evil people to accomplish His will just as He used all these pagan kings to see that His will was done.
We are told in Philippians 4:6 we shouldn’t worry about anything but should pray about everything and offer thanks to God. Verse 7 tells us if we do this, we will have the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. This means when everything is in chaos, we can still have peace about our situation.
The Bible never says we won’t suffer. We will have times of trials and tribulations, but God will be with us. We must bring our concerns to Him and trust in Him. He’s got this. And we are assured in 1 Peter 5:10 that after we have suffered a little while, God Himself will perfect, establish, and strengthen and settle us.
If you are being confronted by evil and experiencing difficult times turn to God. He’s got you.
As Christians the worst that can happen to us is we can die. The best that can happen to us is we can die. Paul expressed this in Philippians 1:21 when he said, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” If we live our lives in Christ, we are good either way.
God used pagan kings to accomplish His will, but He also used the Jews in captivity in the books of Daniel, Esther and Nehemiah to accomplish tasks for Him.
Dedicate yourself to the Lord. Love Him with all your heart. Serve Him in whatever capacity He has called you to serve and let Him handle the rest.
Have a great day!