After reading this post, you may look at sleepless nights totally different. Once again we see the sovereign hand of God invisibly at work.
Let’s open our Bible to Esther 6:1-3 … Remember Haman was celebrating with his family and friends and planning the death of Mordecai; During that night the king could not sleep so he gave an order to bring the book of records, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. To understand this a little further we need to look at the culture, in that day there were scribes or officers whose duty was to keep a journal of every occurrence worthy of notice, this was the book of records. I can only imagine how reading that would definitely put someone to sleep!
Then notice verse two: “And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the doorkeepers who had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus.” Sounds familiar right – look at Esther 2:21-23. My friend, this was Not a coincidence! Once again God’s sovereignty is evident, not only does the king ask for the chronicles to be read to him, but the servant “happens” to pick the very journals from events that happened five years earlier pertaining to Mordecai saving the king’s life.
You can definitely see that God is in control here! Think about how many record books there are yet he picks this book that deals with Mordecai five years ago who saved the kings life.
God wanted the king awake because He had something to tell him. Rewards and punishments were basic to the Persian system of maintaining loyalty. So what type of reward did Mordecai receive? Let’s look at Esther 6:3 “Then the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” And the king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.”
This is a key point, if Mordecai had been honored five years before, the events of this critical day could not have occurred.
God is in control of the details of our lives! Mordecai had to wait five years to receive his reward which in turn assisted in saving the Jewish people. God wants us to receive the right reward at the right time and for the right purpose. So the next time you cannot sleep, listen to the Lord.