March 21

Esther 8:1
 
“On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king” — Esther 8:11On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her. (Esther 8:1).
THE king’s insomnia may have seemed but an accidental occurrence on that night when Haman was plotting the destruction of Mordecai, the faithful Jew who would not bow to the enemy of his people and his God. But on that sleepless night, there hung the fate of a nation. It was God Himself who kept Ahasuerus from repose. He was working out His plan for the deliverance of His people and the wakeful king was but a cog in the machinery of the divine purpose. Thus, in ways too innumerable to mention does the Lord work out everything according to His own will. He is never indifferent to His people’s needs. He will never disdain their cries for help, but in every hour of need He is on hand to bless.
“His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.”
—Cowper.