Are you still holding your breath? Esther certainly is. She just risked her life to invite the king to a banquet. What a beautiful foreshadowing of how our Savior gave His life to provide us with an invitation to an eternal feast. 

The Holy Spirit isn't mentioned in this book (neither is God nor prayer), but He is at work! Esther must've known the time wasn't right to lay out all of Haman's evil schemes before the king. So instead, she asked the king and Haman to come to a meal the following day, and we'll pick the night before the first banquet with Esther (chapter 6):

1 That night the king could not sleep. So one was commanded to bring the book of the records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. 2 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. 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." 4 So the king said, "Who is in the court?" Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king's palace to suggest that the king hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had ready for him. 5 The king's servants said to him, "Haman is there, standing in the court." And the king said, "Let him come in."

• I'm grateful the Lord works even through insomnia! We all have those sleepless nights, and it's comforting to know that our inability to sleep can be God's sovereignty at work in the life of His people. Spending those sleepless nights tossing and turning about situations and events can be an easy trap (as I know well). Psalms 56:8 (The Message) reminds us, "You've kept track of my every toss and turn, through the sleepless nights, each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book." The next time you have trouble falling or staying asleep, give that time to God and trust that He has a plan even for your restlessness. 

• At the time, Mordecai may have felt overlooked for not being recognized for saving the king's life. Yet, you never hear of any bitterness in his life. What a lesson we can learn here when we haven't received the outcome we think is deserved. Psalm 139:2 says, "You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar." He knows what courageous things you've done, beloved, so we can be confident He will affirm us in His timing and way. His delay signals a more splendid outcome. If Mordecai had been recognized then, it would've drastically changed the result of this providential happening. 

6 So Haman came in, and the king asked him, "What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?" Now Haman thought in his heart, "Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?" 7 And Haman answered the king, "For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8 let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head. 9 Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him: 'Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!'"

• These verses always make me chuckle! Selfishly, Haman thought of how he would like to be honored. Oh, what a humbling this must've been for him after realizing it was for his nemesis, Mordecai. C.S. Lewis writes this in Mere Christianity: "The moment you have a self at all, there is a possibility of putting yourself first – wanting to be the centre – wanting to be God, in fact. That was the sin of Satan: and that was the sin he taught the human race."

"Lord, your word says in Matthew 23:12 that those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be honored. Therefore, God, please teach me to humble myself."

10 Then the king said to Haman, "Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king's gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken." 11 So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!" 12 Afterward Mordecai went back to the king's gate. But Haman hurried to his house, mourning and with his head covered. 13 When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him, "If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him." 14 While they were still talking with him, the king's eunuchs came, and hastened to bring Haman to the banquet which Esther had prepared.

• The plot thickens like cold gravy, with Haman leading Mordecai around the city showing honor to him. Remember what David wrote in the famous Psalm 23, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." We have just read a way in which God prepared a table for Mordecai in the presence of Haman! 

• Did you catch verse 13? Haman hurried home, covering up who he was, and his wife and wise men said: "…you will not prevail…." Wow. A complete contrast from the last chapter, where these folks were feeding Haman ideas and stoking the fire. 

"Sovereign Lord, we praise you for your hand that guides the heart of humanity. Thank You for preparing a table of grace before me and inviting me to feast with You daily. Thank you for Your sustaining, blood-stained love and the mighty hand that cannot be prevailed against. Amen."