“And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?”
- Esther 4:14
With all its drama, power, romance and intrigue the Biblical story of Esther could easily be mistaken for a modern day best-selling novel. Yet far from a modern piece of fiction this ancient historical story occurred and was recorded centuries ago. The story begins with Queen Vashti refusing to obey an order from her husband King Xerxes, king of Persia, causing her to be banished from her royal position. The king then sent out a decree to gather all the beautiful women in the empire and bring them into the royal harem. Esther, a young Jewish woman, was among those chosen. So pleasing was she to King Xerxes – obviously she was a real knockout – that he chose her to become his queen.
The drama unfolded as Haman, the king’s right-hand man, deceived the king into plotting a plan that would annihilate all the Jewish people in the kingdom. But ultimately Esther, herself a Jewish woman turned heroine, risked her life by using her beauty and influence to turn the tables on Haman – who was eventually hung with his own rope – thus saving the Jewish people. “And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” suggested Mordecai, her cousin and co-hero of the story.
Do you ever wonder why you were born in this particular age and time or circumstances instead of another? I have – often! Why am I living on this earth at this particular time in history and to what purpose? Why was I born into a middle-class family rather than poverty – or else into wealth and royalty? Why was I born and raised in America in a small rural community as opposed to a big city – or why not a third-world country? Why am I of one ethnicity rather than another, short instead of tall? I could go on and on.
The example of Esther should help as we sort through such questions; for by being there at “such a time as this” and through her courageous act, a whole nation was saved. Her life made a difference. So could it be that we too in our own time and circumstances have been called to make a difference; that God has placed us here for just “such a time as this”?