For Such A Time

Today's Bible Reading: EZRA 4:6, 6:14-22; ESTHER 1:1-4:17 

Esther 4:14

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

We are not where we are by mistake. We are not here by chance. We are placed here by God. Regardless of your status or position in life, you are an instrument in the hand of the Almighty. We are His tool for His task. We are placed where we are for his purpose. As it is with us, so it was for Noah, Moses, Joshua, David, Daniel, and a myriad of other saints. Even the obscure and unnamed like the boy with the loaves and the fishes at the feeding of 5,000 are positioned by God and utilized for His service. We are all active participants in God’s plan and purpose.

So it was with Esther. The Jews were in jeopardy. They faced annihilation. They were in fear of being eradicated. They were on the verge of extinction. Deliverance seemed dim. There was little hope. Yet God had already positioned his person to prevail. A Jewish girl was in the palace. She had risen to prominence and had become the queen. She had been positioned by God to accomplish His plan and purpose. He had purposed to preserve His people through her. It was her time. It was her monumental moment.

But it was not without danger and difficult. Reality jolted her. Hesitation almost halted her. To not act meant sure destruction for her and God’s people. She sees what must be done. God can and will use someone to deliver them. But, If not her, who? So, she recognized her responsibility. Realizing the risk she reacts. She resolves to respond. Scared she stood up. Anxious she advanced. Her life may have been in the hands of an earthly king, but her trust was in a heavenly one. This was her time. She was providentially placed where God’s power could work. And it did. Her courage arose in her chaos. Her confidence increased in her crisis. Her courage and conviction gives us hope.

As he did with Esther, God providentially places us where he can use us. In a classroom, at the hospital, in an office, at home, or even in the gym He can utilize us there. We may not be in a place we want to be, but we are in the place where God wants us to be. So rather than begrudge where He has placed you, rejoice in His hand of providence. Look for ways He can use you for His glory. Who knows maybe He has placed you there for such a time as this!

Today thank God for where He has placed you. Rejoice that He knows why you are there and what purpose He has proposed for you while you are there. Look for Him to use you there. Like Esther, who knows whether you have not come to that place for such a time as this?