For Such A Time As This

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Pastor James May

FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

Esther 4:13-14, "Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

We cannot always see the Hand of God in the midst of our situations but we must learn to trust Him and allow Him to have His will performed through us so that we will not miss accomplishing the work that He has called us to do for His Kingdom.

The story of Esther is one of the most well known stories of the entire Bible. It’s a short book of only 10 chapters but it records for all posterity the faithfulness of a young Jewish girl who was born into slavery. She was a slave to King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), the son of King Darius. Darius was the King who had Daniel thrown into the lions’ den. King Xerxes, troubled with distrust of his wife, Queen Vashti, had banished Vashti from Persia and then sought a new queen among the young women of his kingdom. This is when Esther was forced to become the Queen of Media-Persia and wife of King Xerxes I.

Esther was quite comfortable with her ordinary life and did not like the idea of being cast into the light of public life as a queen. She would rather have stayed at home and been an ordinary girl, but God had a plan for her life that she was only beginning to follow.

Does this sound familiar to any of you? Do you feel that you are being pushed, dragged or convinced to move on into unfamiliar territory? Is there a tug at your heart to do something different? Is there a stirring in your heart that says something has to change?

The Christian walk is a faith walk! God doesn’t always reveal His perfect will and allow us to see the destiny that He has set in place for our lives. He asks us to trust Him and take a leap of faith, allowing Him to guide our every step until we come to the end. Often, it is not until we have reached a milestone or accomplished a major goal that we can look back and see that God has been leading us all along.

I have often had those who would come to me and say that they just could not understand why God has placed them in the position where they are right now. Perhaps God has placed us in a job environment, or a school environment, or a family situation where we are overwhelmed by the powers of darkness all around us. Perhaps you are questioning God, Why am I here? Can’t I accomplish great things for your Kingdom at some other place? Isn’t there an easier, more productive field where I can work and bring an increase of the harvest of souls into the Kingdom of God?

Esther felt that same pain in her life too! She could not understand why God would allow her to be forced to marry a pagan King and be taken from her family to live in a palace where she felt more like a prisoner than a Queen.

According to the laws of Persian, she could not even go to her husband, the King, without prior approval. If Esther were to attempt to walk into the presence of the King, without permission, she would be instantly killed if he didn’t want to see her.

God is not forcing you to do anything because this is a volunteer army. At any time we desire, we can turn away from the place where God has us and do what we want to do. But, there are consequences to our disobedience!