The Details

How significant are little things? Especially within the big decisions of life, we are often aware of the impact of minor components, either good or bad, on the bigger picture. We see how things could have turned out differently. Can we trust that delays and disappointments, though frustrating and seemingly defeating, are under the control of God and even purposefully orchestrated by Him to accomplish His purposes?

The book of Esther tells a story of enormous consequence: the Jews living in Persia were slated for annihilation. "Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces to destroy, to kill and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children" (Esther 3:13). With stakes that large, the solution was realized through a series of details that could easily be defined as chance.

King Ahasuerus decided to give a banquet (1:3).

Influenced by alcohol, Ahasuerus decided to parade Queen Vashti before his male guests (1:10-11).

Vashti refused Ahasuerus's demand (1:12).

In a fit of anger (2:1), Ahasuerus asked advice for handling Vashti's rebellion (1:13-15).

Ahasuerus's advisors feared widespread domestic rebellion inspired by Vashti's example and recommended her removal as queen (1:16-20).

Ahasuerus approved choosing a new queen through a "beauty pageant" (2:2-4).

Esther's parents had died, and her uncle Mordecai was caring for her (2:7).

Esther was beautiful and of an appropriate age to enter the contest (2:7).

Esther was chosen as a candidate, apparently not of her own volition (2:8).

Esther immediately found special favor with the custodian of the women (2:9).

In spite of being Jewish, Esther was accepted for the contest (2:10).

The annihilation plan was not initiated until after the year-long preliminary preparation of the contestants (2:12).

Esther's turn to appear before Ahasuerus happened when it did (2:13-14).

Without requesting any special provision for her "interview," Esther experienced unanimous favor (2:15).

Ahasuerus liked Esther more than all the other women; he ended the contest and chose her (2:17).

Esther had the habit of obeying her uncle (2:20).

Mordecai overheard a plot against Ahasuerus that two of his disgruntled officials were foolish enough to talk about (2:21-22).

Mordecai made the decision to warn Ahasuerus (2:22).

A certain man Haman found favor in Ahasuerus's eyes and was promoted to a position of power and influence (3:1).

On religious grounds, Mordecai repeatedly refused Ahasuerus's command to bow to Haman, prompting an angry Haman to devise a plot of destruction against all Jews, not just Mordecai (3:2-6).

Haman used a method of chance to determine the date for the proposed annihilation, and it "luckily" allowed the longest interval possible before execution (3:7,13).

Ahasuerus had such confidence in Haman that he didn't question or investigate the proposal, but gave Haman unrestrained authority (3:10-11).

Instead of being kept secret, the decreed plot was actually revealed immediately to the general public (3:14-15).

Esther didn't know about the  plot, but her servants told her of Mordecai's despair. The particular man assigned to Esther fulfilled her request to go to Mordecai to investigate (3:4-5).

Mordecai asked Esther to intervene with Ahasuerus, even though unsolicited visits to the king could result in death (3:8-11).

Esther hadn't been called to Ahasuerus in thirty days and didn't know when she might be called (3:11).

After Esther's hesitant reply, Mordecai pressed his request. At the risk of her own life, Esther decided she would go (4:13-16).

Ahasuerus not only approved Esther's unsolicited visit, but he responded with favor, concern, and offers of help (5:2-3).

Instead of revealing her real motive immediately, Esther prepared for that disclosure through a series of two dinners that included Ahasuerus and Haman. Although planned on very short notice, the dinners were carried out (5:4-8).

The first dinner and invitation to the second gave Haman confidence to prepare to hang Mordecai, whom he happened to see when leaving dinner (5:9-14).

That night Ahasuerus couldn't sleep. He requested the reading of court archives, and the chosen record recounted Mordecai's previous warning to the king. Mordecai had never been rewarded, and Ahasuerus decided to reward him now (6:1-3).

Haman thought Ahasuerus meant to honor him; he gave extravagant instructions that he then had to perform for Mordecai (6:6-11).

After warnings from his wife and friends, Haman feared impending disgrace, and at that moment was called to the second dinner (6:12-14).

On learning that Haman wanted to destroy Esther and her people, Ahasuerus became angry and left the room (7:5-7).

A terrified Haman fell begging before Esther. When Ahasuerus returned, the physical interaction appeared inappropriate, and Ahasuerus commanded Haman's immediate death (7:6-10).

One of Ahasuerus's attendants knew about the gallows Haman had built the day before for Mordecai's hanging and informed Ahasuerus (7:9).

Although the command to destroy the Jews could not be repealed, based on Esther's entreaty, Ahasuerus gave approval (with still nine month's notice to prepare) for the Jews to defend themselves (8:3-13).

Most of the people now feared the Jews, leaving a limited number of enemies who chose to execute the annihilation command; all were killed (9:1-6). Instead of the Jews being annihilated, more than 75,000 of their enemies were killed (9:6,14-16).

The victory in this potentially devastating destruction was so great and the reversal so amazing, that the Jews have ever since celebrated the feast of Purim. The name of the holiday poignantly comes directly from the method of chance that Haman had utilized.

In His orchestration of major events, God uses little things: chance, impetuous decisions of others, coincidental encounters, overlooked situations, the favor of people, good and bad advice, timing of events, people's personal perceptions, misconstrued actions, legal intervention, and much more. Interestingly, the name of God never appears in the book of Esther, but His control and orchestration of all these chance events is strikingly obvious.

God does indeed use little things. He knows about all the details, and He knows how to use every one of them within His plan. When things seem to go wrong or result only in frustration, God can be trusted.