King Ahasuerus missed his banished Queen Vashti so much that he decided to hatch a plan to replace her. He sent for all the eligible young women in his kingdom, gathering them into the royal harem under the care of a trusted eunuch. There the girls spent a year engaging in beauty treatments to prepare them for a night with the king so he could decide who was his favorite. In time Ahasuerus chose Esther, a lovely Jewish maiden, as his new queen.

Esther took the royal throne but harbored a secret. Mordecai, her cousin and guardian, had warned his adopted daughter not to reveal her Jewish heritage to anyone. He understood there was bad blood between the Persians and God’s chosen people and didn’t want her to risk mistreatment. So she kept her nationality quiet. Yet despite this prejudice and constant threat, Mordecai and Esther remained loyal to the king.

One day while Mordecai sat at the king’s gate he overheard a murderous plot. Two officials conspired to lay hands on Ahasuerus and kill him in cold blood. Mordecai immediately got word to Esther of the impending murder, and she informed the king, giving her cousin the credit.

The king immediately investigated the accusations and found them to be true. The two officials were arrested and sentenced to death. They were hung on the gallows for all to see. Thanks to Mordecai’s loyalty, the king survived the scheme.

The royal historians recorded the whole sordid affair in the Book of the Chronicles as the king stood by and observed. Then the whole messy business was forgotten as life in the royal palace resumed - just another day in the life of a self-centered Persian king.

But what about Mordecai? Was he sitting at the king’s gate on that day and at that time by happenstance? Was he able to quickly get word to Esther who informed the king as a matter of fate? Did the king have the affair recorded in the history books and then completely ignore the courageous actions of a faithful subject in an unfortunate oversight? You will find out the answer as the story continues. Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.” God used these forgotten events in the ensuing days to preserve Mordecai and the lives of all of His chosen people.

Do you sometimes feel the circumstances of your life are mundane or parts of a big series of coincidences? Does life go on day after day filling the chronicles of time, but with no real meaning for you or the future? Then think again. God has a plan for your life and no one can frustrate it. He can do all things and orchestrates every situation to fulfill His good purpose. We can’t always see His work behind the scenes, but we can trust that He is there. The world may say that life is driven by fate, but as we will see as we read further in the book of Esther – and it’s also true for you today – with God there are no coincidences.