Now we come to the part of the narrative in Esther where the king cannot sleep, the night before the second banquet that Esther had proposed. So he orders the record-book of the kingdom to be brought and read in his presence, in which he discovers that Mordecai had never been honored for exposing the assassination plot against him. In the midst of all this, Haman walks in and is asked how the king should honor a man who is in his favor- and, to his shock, he is tasked with the duty of publicly honoring Mordecai. Then Haman goes home in shame, where his wife and friends predict his doom and tell him that he is already done for.--God's Providence often does not work in the way that we would expect it to. Usually He does not work in miracles- but very frequently, He uses common and ordinary things to bring about extraordinary results -- just as He was doing here, behind the scenes, in the narrative of Esther. Throughout the different twists and turns that we experience in life, we may rest assured that He has orchestrated them in such a way that they are indeed bringing us closer to Christ and heaven. He is sovereign, and He is in total control of all things- and He will not allow anything in the mountains, valleys, and deserts of life to separate us from Him, His love, and our heavenly home-