Insight for Living

Bill Meyer: Sometimes things aren't what they seem. The righteous go unnoticed, the arrogant 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 Swindoll 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.

Chuck Swindoll: 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, as the plot thickens. Listen carefully.

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. It was found written what Mordecai had reported concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. The king said, "What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?" Then the king's servants who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him."

So the king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace in order to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows which he had prepared for him. The king's servants said to him, "Behold, Haman is standing in the court." And the king said, "Let him come in." So Haman came in, and the king said to him, "What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?" And Haman said to himself, "Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?"

Then Haman said to the king, "For the man whom the king desires to honor, let them bring a royal robe which the king has worn, and the horse on which the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown has been placed. And let the robe and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble princes, and let them array the man whom the king desires to honor and lead him on horseback through the city square and proclaim before him, 'Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.'"

Then the king said to Haman, "Take quickly the robe and the horse as you have said and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king's gate. Do not fall short in anything of all that you have said." So Haman took the robe and the horse and arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square and proclaimed before him, "Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor." Then Mordecai returned to the king's gate, but Haman hurried home, mourning, with his head covered.

Normally things are not as they seem. Most parents of small children will teach you that if you don't know it already. It's when the kids get very quiet and are making no noise at all that you have everything to worry about. There isn't a parent listening right now who has not done a quick investigation and found their two-year-old standing waist-deep in toilet tissue and Kleenex. Or in our case, ankle-deep in bath powder with all of the file drawers pulled out and all the files all over the floor, and he's dousing each one carefully with a quarter of an inch of bath powder.

Cynthia and I have long-time friends who with their daughter went to a large department store. The child got very quiet. She was sitting with her back to them, so they didn't worry about anything. They knew she wasn't lost. But she was unusually quiet while they went through the entire transaction at this large Sears and Roebuck store. And when they finished, they reached down to pick her up and they found that all the while she had been chewing on a cigar butt she found on the floor there at that Sears store. When children are quiet, it may seem like things are fine and dandy, but chances are good they are not.

Here's another one to illustrate things are not as they seem. When things have gone wrong, it may seem like they cannot possibly get any worse. But you know and I know that they can. I heard a crazy story this past week I have to tell you. It's about a poor guy named Johnson who, all of his adult life, made wrong decisions. Every choice he made was a wrong choice. If he bet on a horse, it would lose every time. If he chose one elevator over another, that would be the elevator that got stuck.

Well, it became necessary for this fellow to travel about a thousand miles away in a hurry for an overnight trip. The only way to get there was an airplane. It frightened him. But to his delight, he discovered that there was only one airline that serviced that particular city. So he breathed a sigh of relief and he got on the plane and it took off, no problems. Can you imagine the horror of this man when he looked out the window having been flying about 30 or 40 minutes and he saw the engine on fire?

Being a Catholic, he selected his favorite saint, St. Francis, and he said, "I have never in my life made the right choice. Why, I don't know, but I have borne my cross without complaint. On this occasion, I made no choice. Only the plane I could have taken or have taken is going down. I had to take this plane. Why am I being punished?" Right about then, a great hand reached out of the clouds and swept into the plane and pulled him out. The plane went on down, and it held him about two miles above the earth. And a great voice came, "My son, I can save you if in truth you have called upon me."

He says, "Yes, I have. I have truly called upon you, St. Francis." "Ah," said the voice, "St. Francis Xavier or St. Francis of Assisi?" No, no, no! About the time you think it's as bad as it's going to get, it gets worse. It never fails, does it? Things are not as they seem. About the time you think they're never going to get worse, they get worse. And I am convinced if you and I had lived in the days of Esther, and if we had come to this particular time in our lives as a group of Jewish people living in the capital city of Susa, we would have been convinced that this was about our last night, certainly if our name had been Mordecai.

There is a pivotal chapter in this book where everything seems to change. I find in this section of the book of Esther actually not one but four separate principles that seem to illustrate turnabout is fair play. For example, before we even get into the chapter, the first one is: when all seems lost, it isn't. It really isn't. Had we lived then, we would have thought our protection was lost. I mean, we have no advocate on the throne. The king is a Gentile. He has no interest in the Jews. Furthermore, we have no future because his close confidant is Haman who hates the Jews, anti-Semitic to the soul of his sandals. He despises us. We have no hope.

After all, in the middle of the night, we could still hear the hammering on the gallows. Can you imagine the night Mordecai must have spent as he listened to that grim reminder that the very next day the smell of death would spread across the city from his body as it is impaled on that vast pole that is being erected for his extermination? And yet the marvelous fact is, Mordecai apparently spends a full night in sleep. Even though the last verse of chapter 5 of this ancient book of Esther states that gallows 50 cubits high were being made, and in the very next morning Haman would go before the king and ask for the life of Mordecai.

Mordecai apparently spends the night with no problem because when all seems lost, it really isn't. Mordecai is not licking his wounds, holding a pity party, thinking, "Poor me, I'll never make it to see tomorrow night." There is somehow a sense of trust in his God. As we step into the first part of chapter 6, there is yet a second principle: when no one seems to notice, they do.

Remember Mordecai's courageous decision back a number of days earlier? He heard of a conspiracy between two of the doorkeepers of the palace where these two men were going to kill the king, lay hands on him and kill him. When he heard of that conspiracy, he told his adopted daughter Esther about it, and she told the king, she being the queen. And the king believed her and brought the men before him and killed them before they had the chance to kill him. But no one ever rewarded Mordecai for that great act.

The king knew of it, of course, because he is the one who said the two men should be killed. But I'm sure he thought Esther got her reward from someone in the palace. Who would bother to tell him that it came from the man who lived at the king's gate, Mordecai himself? And so Mordecai is living his life, not noticed, not rewarded, and could easily have felt unappreciated until this night. Listen as I read the first three verses.

During that night—and what a night it was—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. And it was found written what Mordecai had reported concerning Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's eunuchs who were doorkeepers, that they had sought to lay hands on King Ahasuerus. He listened to the reading of the chronicles, to the record of Persia, and he heard the name Mordecai, a new name to him, an unknown until now. And he stops them at this point and he says, "Wait, what honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?" Then the king's servants who attended him said, "Nothing has been done for him."

Have you lived long enough as an adult to discover that often momentous events hang upon the tiniest trivialities? Have you discovered that? Here is a wonderful case in point. While all of Susa slept, the king is restless. I mean, of all nights to suffer from insomnia, what a night. The king knew nothing of the plan to kill Mordecai. That was Haman's plan the next morning to face him with it and to get the okay. He really knew little of the result of his decisions. He's living in a palace away from the real world.

While Mordecai sleeps, while all of Susa and all of Persia sleeps, the king can't sleep. I love the first three words of verse 1: "During that night." That's the way it is with God. On the 11th hour, it seems he steps in. He does things that you would never have expected. When no one seemed to notice and no one seemed to care, there was someone. He was very much aware. Suddenly it dawned on the king that he owed his very life and throne to this obscure Jew named Mordecai.

Do I speak today to some modern-day Mordecai? Has it been your decision or discovery that has caused someone else to be promoted to a place of significance and now they are in virtually a celebrity status and you've never been noticed, never been thanked, never been rewarded? Have you done the hard, the courageous thing and someone else got the credit? Has it been your experience that though you have done what is right, you have never been rewarded? You have never been honored? In fact, someone else has taken the glory that rightfully is yours?

But it looks as though it will never come. Learn a lesson from Mordecai today, will you? The thing you will love about the man throughout the chapter and even the following is that he doesn't seem to be a man of vengeance. He doesn't take an opportunity to get back at Haman when he has Haman in a very vulnerable spot, a little later on in this story as we will hear today. He doesn't kick him in the face when it's a chance to do so. He doesn't even speak against him.

Let me challenge you to guard your heart as he did. Let me have you be encouraged from the writing of a verse of Scripture in the margin of your Bible here, Hebrews 6:10. Listen to the words: "For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor which you have showed toward his name in that you have ministered to the saints and are ministering." I love the words "God is not unjust to forget." When no one else seems to notice, God notices. When no one else remembers, God records. We're told in the Psalms he keeps our tears in a bottle. He will reward us for acts that are done in his name.

So be encouraged today. There will come a day when rewards will come your way as they should. Perhaps not on this earth as happens to Mordecai, but someday God is not unjust to forget your work, your labor. This brings up a third principle from the basic axiom that things are not really as they seem, and that is: when everything seems great, it's not. Sounds like one of Murphy's Laws, doesn't it? Anytime things appear to be going better, you have overlooked something is that basic law. And I think of Haman when I hear that humorous principle.

As soon as the king heard nothing had been done for Mordecai, his wheels started turning. He began to imagine what might be done. Then he had to figure out who would help him carry it out. And so in verse 4 he asks the logical question: "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace in order to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows which he had prepared for him. Is this a great moment or what?

The sun begins to come up. Haman comes early, has an appointment with the king, has plans to finish off his long-hated enemy. And out of the inner court comes the word of the king: "Call him in! Call Haman in!" Haman comes in... verse 5: King's servants said, "Behold, Haman is standing in the court." And the king said, "Let him come in." Now if you were Haman, right? Wouldn't this make a great movie? You would think, "Now is my chance. Just a minute, gallows, somebody will be on you."

And you walk into the court of the king thinking, "This is my moment." Before you can get a line out of your mouth, however, the king fills your ears with verse 6: So Haman came in, and the king said to him, "What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?" Now if you were Haman, you would think of yourself. Who else talks about how much money he makes, how many kids he's got, how well-fixed he is? Haman! So you think, "I better put on hold the idea I was going to bring up and answer. This is my chance."

I love stories like this. I love them. "What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?" And Haman said to himself, "Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?" Of course. This is my moment. So let's see, what could be done for me? Let's begin with the king's robe. Verse 7: Haman said, "For the man whom the king desires to honor, let them bring a royal robe which the king has worn." Write that down: royal robe, king has worn.

And choose the horse on which the king has ridden. Write that down: horse on which the king has ridden, preferably white. And the crown on whose head the royal crown has been placed: royal crown once placed on the head. And let the robe and the horse... can you see Haman? Let the robe and the horse and the crown be placed on this individual, and let them array the man whom the king desires to honor and lead him on horseback through the city square and proclaim before him that it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.

"Great idea," says the king. "Couldn't have thought of something as imaginative. It's great. Now, verse 10: Take quickly the robes and the horse as you have said and do so for Mordecai the Jew, who is sitting at the king's gate. Do not fall short in anything of all that you have said." So Haman took the robe and the horse and arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square and proclaimed before him, "Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor."

Bill Meyer: Haman walked into the king's court convinced this was his moment, and in a way, he was right. It just wasn't the moment he imagined. This is Insight for Living. There's an important closing thought from Chuck Swindoll coming up, so stay with us. Chuck titled today's message, "What Goes Around, Comes Around." It's number seven in his 12-part study of Esther, which ends on June 9th.

While there's still time, take advantage of the companion Bible study tools we've prepared for you, including the Searching the Scriptures Bible study workbook and the audio CDs for Esther. All the details can be found at insight.org/offer. And then beginning on June 10th, we'll be turning to another powerful series. This time, Chuck's focus is on the amazing attributes of God. The central theme of this next study is the power of the cross of Jesus Christ. Here's Chuck.

Chuck Swindoll: For almost 20 years a colleague of mine did the same thing every single Sunday. Right before I stepped up to preach, he would lean over and whisper a few words into my ear. The same words every time: "Preach grace, Chuck. Preach the cross." Oh my, I can still hear his voice. And here's what I've learned after more than 60-plus years of standing behind a pulpit: those four words are the whole ballgame. Everything else is just noise. The cross isn't a decoration. It isn't the introduction to a better topic. It is the topic. Always has been, always will be.

The Apostle Paul said it plainly: "I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." That's not a modest man underselling himself. That's a brilliant man who finally understood what actually changes people. Not cleverness, not rhetoric, not a carefully crafted performance. The cross, just the cross. That's why Insight for Living exists. Not to put on a good broadcast, not to win awards or grow an audience, but to make sure that somewhere in a car, in a kitchen, on a phone, on a computer screen halfway around the world, someone has a genuine life-altering encounter with the cross we proclaim.

Now, June 30th marks the end of our fiscal year, and I want to invite you personally to become part of what happens next. When you send a gift to Insight for Living, you're not just supporting a ministry, you actually have one. Your generosity is what casts the seed of God's word into places I will never go and reach people I will never meet. That's not small. That's extraordinary. Would you give today? Generously, sacrificially, joyfully. Join me in giving the cross, our very best.

Bill Meyer: As a tangible expression of our gratitude for your gift, we'd like to send you a brand-new booklet from Chuck. It's called The Cross We Proclaim. We published this booklet to coincide with Chuck's next broadcast series. When you give a gift to Insight for Living, we'd be pleased to send you a copy. It's clear we live in a world that's obsessed with image, credentials, and making impressions. In his booklet, Chuck says there's a better way to live, and it begins at the foot of the cross where all the ground is level.

By reading The Cross We Proclaim, you'll find the freedom that comes when you stop managing your reputation and start resting in what Christ accomplished. No more posturing, just you and the cross. Chuck's brand-new booklet is titled The Cross We Proclaim. To give a donation and request a copy, call us at 800-772-8888 or to send a check in the mail along with your request for the booklet, just address the envelope to: Insight for Living, Post Office Box 5000, Frisco, Texas, 75034. You can also go to insight.org/donate.

In an evil world, do you ever wonder when God will even the score? I'm Bill Meyer. Don't miss Chuck Swindoll's answer Tuesday on Insight for Living.

The preceding message, "What Goes Around, Comes Around," was copyrighted in 1989, 1990, 1997, 2005, 2018, and 2026, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2026 by Charles R. Swindoll Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.