Sometimes things aren't what they seem.

The righteous go unnoticed.

The arrogance seem untouchable.

And God appears to be somewhere else entirely.

But appearances can be deceiving, and the book of Esther proves it. Today, on Insight

for Living, Chuck Swindall recounts one of Scripture's most dramatic stories. It's found in Esther

Chapter 6, where Chuck reminds us that God's timing may feel slow, but he misses nothing. It's the story

of a sleepless king, a forgotten act of loyalty,

and an overconfident villain that all converge in a single unforgettable night. Chuck begins by

reading from Esther, Chapter 6. For the Jews living in Persia, it seemed as if all was lost.

They had no protector except the queen.

But how powerful was she in the shadow of the king?

The sand in the hourglass was running out, and genocide seemed inevitable.

And yet, in spite of the way things seemed, that's not the way things were. God was at work

behind the scenes, scripting each movement on the stage.

The king, her husband, had given Esther not only an audience, but also carte blanche, to request

anything she desired up to half the kingdom. None of the Jews knew what was happening

behind palace doors.

Even Haman was too busy building the gallows for Mordecai to know anything but his desire for revenge.

And so the account continues right after Esther's banquet for her husband and Haman.

The scene is the king's bedchamber late at night.

I'm reading for you from Esther chapter 6, beginning at verse 1,

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