Belief in “luck” or “chance” is seen even among Christians who make mention of “accidents” and “good or bad fortune.” Some may even be tempted to ascribe such beliefs on the events described in the book of Esther, especially because God’s name is not mentioned there.
In reality, making no reference to God’s name does not change the fact of God’s presence, sovereignty and the evident faith of His people. When Haman’s plot to annihilate the Jews became known, Mordecai pleaded with Esther, saying, ” “[I]f you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). Mordecai’s plea makes evident that Esther’s rise to royalty was of divine providence, to the end that God’s people might be saved.
Esther, too, makes evident the faith that she and her people had in God. Knowing that she may be put to death according to Persian law if she approached the king without being summoned, Esther requested Mordecai and the Jews to fast with her (Esther 4:15-17). Since the king had not summoned her for the past thirty days, Esther knew that unless God gives her favor in the sight of the king, she will surely die. Fasting, for the Jews, is a very important part of worship. It is through fasting that they seek God’s help during times of crisis.
Was it by “chance,” then, that Esther became Queen of the most powerful empire during her time? Was it by “luck” that the king couldn’t sleep, resulting in his remembering Mordecai, giving him honor for having saved him from an assassination plot? Was it by “accident” that Haman was executed on the very gallows he had designed for Mordecai’s neck? We can go on and on . . .
So what is the conclusion of the whole matter? Hear what the Preacher says: “[t]here is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven….. He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11). Indeed, life is not and can never be the product of “chance” or “luck.” There is no such thing as an “accident.” God is sovereign. He is in control.
