When Queen Esther faces the daunting choice of risking her own life by going before King Ahasuerus or of letting all the Jews in Persia be slaughtered by Haman’s order — Esther’s adopted father Mordecai says to her, “Who knows whether you have come here — to your position, in this place, in this exact period of history — for just such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).
This is a statement of faith, and an example of the understated theology in the book of Esther. Mordecai is expressing his confidence that there is a purpose and meaning to the universe in general, and to each of our lives in particular.
God can use your position of power, or your difficult trial (which in Esther’s case was one and the same), to his glory!
This is a statement of faith because without God, in a secular universe, this is not true — nothing has a purpose or meaning. But with the God of the Bible, it is completely true — down to the minutest thing that touches your life, whether painful or pleasurable.
Are you a beggar? A prince? Use your position to God’s glory!
You are in your family, your neighborhood, your office, your exercise class, your classroom, your hospital room, your elected office for just such a time as this. To be God’s instrument for blessing others and glorifying himself through Jesus Christ.
Remember Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel chapter two?
“The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world” (7-8).
Are you poor? Then who knows whether you are poor for such a time as this. Are you rich? Who knows whether you are rich for such a time as this.
Are you a beggar? A prince? Use your position to God’s glory!
Whether you are a single parent, a widow or widower, a teenager, or a disabled person you are where you are for a reason.