for such a time as this...

Today I sat with Esther… I have been sitting a lot lately with Esther as I am currently doing a study on this amazing woman.

The conclusion I've come to is: Esther is awesome. Although God is not directly mentioned in the text you can't help but see him weaving together this mighty plan to save the Jewish people directly from the beginning.

While I have been learning sweet lessons from Esther throughout this study, today's lesson stood out. Today I saw a defining moment for Esther that spoke to my heart so deeply.

This was big. The king had just sent out a decree to kill all of the Jewish people. When Mordecai (Esther's cousin who raised her) finds out about this, he comes to Queen Esther and begs her to ask for favor from the king for the Jewish people. There is only one massive problem… to ask for the kings favor, she must enter into the inner court without being summoned by the king. Totally forbidden, actually to make you understand how forbidden she goes on to tell Mordecai that the punishment is death and the only way to live is if the king spares you by extending his golden scepter.

um… ok. Wow. Punishable by death?! Just to enter into the kings presence without permission??

I'm sure Esther had some sort of "are you kidding me" tone as she tried to explain to Mordecai the weight of his request. But Esther had a decision to make..


In this moment, Mordecai answers her with two things that stuck with me:

"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." 4:14 

I have felt the weight of this verse often in my life. God desires to use us. He wants us to be vessels for him, but by no means does He NEED us to do any of it. "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted" Job 42:2

I don't know about you, but I desperately want the Lord to use me. I don't want him to pass over me because I was fearful, or untrusting, or not obedient. I want Him to use me as His vessel to further His Kingdom, but that only happens when I say Yes Lord, instead of running the opposite direction in fear.


"And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" 

God had been working the details together long before this moment so that Esther could save the Jewish people. He gave her Mordecai to raise her, He allowed her to hide her Jewish heritage, He allowed her to be disobedient to the Jewish laws so that the king could show favor to her. The Lord chose Esther, a secretly Jewish orphan to reign as queen!! … for such a time as this.

Has He not done the same for us? Chosen us? He has chosen you and I for such a time as this. For this generation. For these moments. I am still in such awe when I say those words. God chose me. 

And then He sweetly reminds me… "He redeems your life from the pit and CROWNS you with steadfast love and mercy" Psalm 103:4 I love being reminded of that. Not only did he save my life from the destruction and the pit that was, but He CROWNED me with His love and His mercy so that I can be used by Him for His Glory. Amazing.


Sister, brother, or whoever is reading this.. hear me. The Lord has called you to where you are, for such a time as this. He has called you to your work, your school, your neighborhood, your family, your city for such a time as this. He wants to use you in big and mighty ways for His Kingdom. I pray that we can learn what it looks like to say yes, and to be obedient to what the Lord calls us to. To run far from the fear that traps us into disobedience and run into His love and mercy daily.

"You whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, "You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off, fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you" Isaiah 41:9-10


Esther had literally a life or death decision to make. The Lord chose her, so even in her doubt and fear, she was going to trust and obey the Lord. The Lord has chosen each one of us, in our different seasons of life, in our different parts of the world -- may we all respond with trust and obedience the way Esther did.