The Heart of a King

Proverbs 21:1 says "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases."  What would Mordecai say about this verse?  In Esther 5 - 7, a story continues to unfold in which Haman wants to kill Mordecai and Esther is trying to stop it.  And, one evening the king had trouble sleeping and so he asked that the history of the kingdom be read to him.  Therein, he "discovered" how Mordecai had foiled the assassination plot of the king previously -- though the king already knew this because he had promoted Mordecai to a position in the palace as a result.  I think it wise to pause there for a moment.  We all have "kings" in our lives.  And, God controls all hearts and directs them where he pleases. Is there someone that God needs to cause to "discover" a fact about you again?  Instead of telling that person, how about praying that God would reveal it to that person?  

The more I read Esther, the more I love the book.  God has a great sense of humor in this scene.  Knowing that Haman is full of himself, God directs the king to ask Haman how to honor someone.  And, Haman, thinking he is to be honored, advises the king of what he would want.  But, instead of his being honored, Haman has to be the person honor Mordecai.  I can't imagine the look on either Haman's or Mordecai's face. It comes to an ironic close with Haman receiving exactly what he planned for Mordecai -- death on a gallows.  

While I understand that God's decisions and directives do not always line up with a simple, comfort-free life, I do know that God does work behind the scenes and in response to prayer.  God can cause a "king" in our lives to "discover" again something about us.  I want to be Mordecai who was calm and cool, not "trembling nervously" before Haman, and it begins with knowing who holds the heart of the king and who is the King.