For Such A Time As This Series

Why am I here? What plans does God have for me? I am only me. I can’t do much for God. Can I?

Esther is a story about a beautiful young lady. A young lady that was used to save a nation. God wants to use us in His ministry and work. But God’s timing is not always our timing.

Did you hear about the man that prayed to God and said “Lord, do you have a minute? God said sure a million years are like a minute to me. The man thought for a little while and said “Lord, do you have a penny.”

Let me tell you the background on the story of Esther. King Xerxes of Persia had this huge feast. He pulled out the finest his kingdom had to offer. The glasses were gold, each one containing its own distinct design. On the seventh day of the feast he wanted Queen Vashti to come so that he could show her off. He sent his servants for her but she refused to come. He consulted his counselors and they told him to put her away and get a new queen. They held a beauty contest and Esther won.

Now Esther was a Jew. Her parents had died when she was young so her cousin, Mordicia had raised her. Esther evidently helped to get Mordicia a job in the palace and there he overheard a plot to kill the king. He revealed this plot and saved the king. Later Haman, one of the king’s highest ranking officers designed a plan to have all of the Jews killed. But it was then that all of the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. Esther and Mrodicia were honored while Haman was hanged. God’s timing is always right.

I. GOD USES CIRCUMSTANCES FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS. 1:12

A) Had Vashti refused to come to the feast, Esther would have not been queen.

Many years ago A.J. Gordon went to the World’s Fair. From a distance he saw a man pumping water with one of those old hand pumps. The water was pouring out and he said as he looked, "That man is really pumping water." But when he got closer, he discovered that it was a wooden man connected to a pump powered by electricity. The man was not pumping the water, the water was pumping him. Source Unknown.

` B) When we live under the circumstances it will destroy our peace. We will be tossed too and fro, never finding solid ground. When we give those circumstances to God and allow him to use them for good in His time and in our life, we will find peace for today and hope for tomorrow.

II. GOD USES COURAGE FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.

A) Mordicia telling the king about the plot to have him killed.

1) Notice that nothing was done to thank Mordicia for a long time. Sometimes the deed you think went unnoticed will be rewarded later at a more important time.

2) Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am a life that was changed. Little deeds that you had done, sacrifices made, unnoticed on the earth but in heaven now proclaimed.

B) Esther going before the king without invitation. You may think “but she was the queen.” It didn’t matter. The king of this day and culture had many wives, one of them served as queen. Yet he called for each of them when he wanted them. If they entered uninvited they risked death.

During his years as premier of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev denounced many of the policies and atrocities of Joseph Stalin. Once, as he censured Stalin in a public meeting, Khrushchev was interrupted by a shout from a heckler in the audience. "You were one of Stalin’s colleagues. Why didn’t you stop him?"

"Who said that?" roared Khrushchev. An agonizing silence followed as nobody in the room dared move a muscle. Then Khrushchev replied quietly, "Now you know why." --Today in the Word, July 13, 1993.

Concl: Why has God brought you to this place in your life? Do you have the courage to act on it?