For Reading and Meditation:
Esther 4:10
We said yesterday that when Mordecai and Esther were confronted with the news of Haman's edict, they surely must have glimpsed something of the sovereignty of God, which had led them to Persia and overruled their lives there. The issue of divine sovereignty is something about which we, as Christians, ought never to tire of talking. I know of no greater incentive to effective Christian living than to meditate on the fact that God is constantly at work in our lives, and that His guidance involves the tiniest details. I think, as I write, of F. W. Robertson, the great prophetic preacher of Brighton, England. He wanted to be a soldier and follow in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, but the commission for which he applied somehow got lost and, taking his father's advice, he decided to train for the ministry. Five days later, the commission arrived. Robertson believed, however, that his father's judgment was the guidance of God and entered college to study for the ministry. His subsequent, God-anointed preaching bore eloquent testimony to the fact that he had made the right decision. A man I know puts his own assessment of the divine attention to detail in these words: "If I had not met a certain person I would not have known a certain lady who introduced me to another person, and if that other person did not have a delicate daughter who was disturbed by the barking of my dog, I would not now be serving Christ in the way I am." Who can deny that God orders the affairs of His children down to the tiniest details?
O Father, once again I stand in awe at Your marvelous attention to detail. You can use even the barking of a dog in the pursuit of Your eternal purposes. How wondrous and beyond our understanding are all Your ways. Thank you dear Father. Amen.