When King Xerxes became sober, and his anger subsided, he remembered Vashti, but it was too late for him to get her back as his queen. The law had already been implemented to depose Vashti. According to the law of the Medo-Persian empire, any law approved by the king could not be reversed, even by the king himself. The king's personal attendants proposed finding a young virgin for King Xerxes. They appointed commissioners in every province of the Medo-Persian Empire to find young virgins and bring them to the palace to be prepared for the king's choice. There was a Jew named Mordecai who became a slave in Babylon when the Babylonian Empire destroyed the city of Israel and the temple and took many Jews to Babylon. He brought with him Esther, his niece. Esther's parents died before Mordecai was taken to Babylon. And when the Medo-Persian Empire destroyed the Babylonian Empire, Mordecai and Esther moved to Susa, the capital of the Medo-Persian Empire.
Mordecai treated Esther as his own daughter and took care of her. Esther became a beautiful young girl, and she was one of the girls who were chosen for the king. Esther pleased and won the favor of Hegai, the appointed caretaker of the girls. Hegai provided Esther with beauty treatments, special food, and seven female attendants and moved her into the best place in the harem, a place for the king's concubines (Esther 2:1-9). Although Mordecai and Esther had gone through a lot, God has never forgotten them. God still cares for the Jews, even though God allowed the Babylonian Empire to destroy the land of Israel because of the Jews' rebellion against Him. God would use Esther in a special way to save her people, the Jews.
God's mercy and grace are always available to those who believe in Him. And God is always at work in our lives, even when we do not know it. Mordecai and Esther, without realizing it, will be used by God in a very special way. Let us be encouraged that no matter what we face today, God's wonderful plan is still at work in our lives. Let us continue to trust and walk in His ways.
Ask yourself these questions for application: (Think through these questions carefully and meditate on them while answering them, and let the Spirit of God speaks to you). Do I believe that God has a wonderful plan for my life? What is my responsibility to God to fulfill His wonderful plan in my life? Why is trusting and obeying God important for God to fulfill His wonderful plan in my life?
Write down all the worries you face today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, thank you for your wonderful plan in my life. I pray that I will keep on trusting and obeying you so that your wonderful plan will be fulfilled in me. I pray that you will give me strength and wisdom as I go through the day. In your name, Jesus, I pray, Amen.