FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

“If you keep silent at this time, liberation and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father's house will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this." (Esther 4:14 HCSB)

For the child of God, nothing is by accident, but by appointment. This is the great truth Romans 8:28 conveys, “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.” God works out His purpose to shape us into the image of Christ, “For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified.” (Rom.8:29-30) This means that even those things we think are against us become God’s way of doing good to us and through us. It cannot be otherwise because an all-knowing, all-powerful and all-loving God is for us! “What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom.8:31)

Theologians call this, “the providence of God.” Providence is a composite word, from “pro” which means “before”, and “video” meaning “to see.” Put together it means, “to see ahead.” God sees ahead of time what will unfold, and guides every act to the fulfillment of His ultimate design. He is never caught by surprise and never has to develop a contingency plan. This does not deny human responsibility for the choices made—people are not mere puppets. But, it does exalt Divine sovereignty—that God’s decrees override man’s decisions. This doctrine is woven through the fabric of Scripture. No book makes it clearer than Esther.

Yet, the name of God is not found once. There is no direct mention of Him. Fasting is referred to multiple times, but never a word about prayer. God is conspicuous by His absence! That is, His overt presence is not indicated, yet we would be hard-pressed to find a story where God is seen more clearly—yet, in this case behind the scenes, directing the drama. The intent of the inspired author is to show God in this way. We are led to ask, “Where is God in this story?” and to answer, “He’s everywhere!”

The old Gospel song called, “The Unseen Hand,” affirms this reality in a powerful way:

“There is an unseen hand to me
That leads through ways I can not see
While going through this world of woe
This hand still leads me as I go

I'm trusting to the unseen hand
That guides me through this weary land
And some sweet day I'll reach that strand
Still guided by the unseen hand” (A.J. Sims)
Esther could have sung those lyrics with great conviction!

When she was born, none would have foreseen what she would become, and how God would use her. Her parents were among the Jews in exile. The gladness of a baby girl cradled in their arms would have been lessened by the sorrow of serving a pagan king in a heathen land. Away from Jerusalem—that Holy Land—and forced to live in the hotbed of idolatry, this would be the spiritually hostile environment she would grow up in—and little did they know, the challenge would become even greater, for father and mother would die.

“Mordecai was the legal guardian of his cousin Hadassah (that is, Esther), because she didn't have a father or mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was extremely good-looking. When her father and mother died, Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter.” (Esther 2:7)

Everything seemed to be against her. But remember, “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom.8:31b)

Esther had been born with a beautiful face and developed a figure to match. Again, our form and features are not just a product of randomness, as we might suppose. We have no right to boast in perceived beauty as if we are responsible, neither become bitter about what we consider flawed about our physical features, as though we are victims. This fits in the providence of God like all other things.

“For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know [this] very well. My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was formed in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all [my] days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began.

God, how difficult Your thoughts are for me [to comprehend]; how vast their sum is!” (Ps.139:13-17)

God formed Esther in her mother’s womb, and molded her into one that he could use. That is true of each life, made in the image of God, if we will but embrace the opportunity before us.

Her opportunity came as a result of the first, “Women’s Liberation Movement!” Queen Vashti was summoned by her tyrant husband, Ahasuerus, King of Persia, to display her beauty before a bunch of his drunken friends. She refused to be leered at, and slobbered over by the lecherous men, passions aflame by alcohol.

But, you don’t tell a king, “No.” There are consequences if you do. Vashti was deposed. Another queen needed to be found. What better way than a beauty pageant? Esther, her race as a Jew undeclared, was entered and she was crowned, “Miss Persia.” She became part of the harem and so pleased this Middle-Eastern despot that she was elevated to the status of being the new queen.

There was an unseen hand at work. God was placing her in a strategic place for a sacred purpose.

There would come a day, when the wicked Haman, became fed up with the Jews because of Esther’s cousin, Mordecai. Mordecai refused to grovel before this arrogant beast of a man. Satan put into Haman’s heart the malicious intent to exterminate the Jewish race. The Devil had always wanted to abort God’s intent to bring the Seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, into the world. The Serpent knew that He would crush his head. So, he seized on this opportunity to strike.

But, we are not victims of circumstances. Neither are we swept along by fate. Satan is not in charge! Providence overrules all things, turning even bad to good. We may not see it at the time, but in heaven, God will unveil all the answers to the “why” questions that we cannot grasp now.

What we can do is cling in faith to the unseen hand of God! Esther does. Her faith isn’t great, but it is genuine. It is enough to move her to throw caution to the wind and act—though the action would seem far from certain to bring success. What it could mean is death. Yet, she will do the right thing and, “If I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16d)

Here we are. The times are dark and growing darker. The people of God are being hard-pressed on every side. The threat against us seems to rise by the hour. We wonder, “What is going to happen next?” Our concerns extend beyond our own welfare, to alarm for our loved ones.

How shall we respond? Like Esther, we must do the right thing no matter the outcome. It may be that God will work an incredible deliverance as He did in her day, or He might work the greatest deliverance and take us on to heaven—though the path may be perilous and painful.

We were born for this time. God has brought us to this moment. We may have chosen to avoid it, but we cannot. We can wish to have lived in a different age, but we did not. Mordecai’s words to his lovely cousin are as pertinent to us today as they were when uttered millennia ago, “Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.”

We are in a royal position—children of the King of kings. He is in control. He has appointed us to this hour. He works all things for good. We see that clearly in this story.

You and I would still be hell-bound were it not for Esther. Had she not been in that difficult time called to a dangerous task, the Jews would have faced genocide and then there would have been no chosen race to produce the Messiah, and without Christ there would be no hope.

Would God have raised up someone else to save the Jews?

Mordecai indicates that He would. God cannot fail in His promises. But, people fail to benefit from those promises. Esther might have missed out because she gave in to fear rather than faith. Disobedience would not have terminated God’s intention, but it would have ended Esther’s involvement in it. She would have missed the blessing.

Esther would not have even been a footnote in ancient history. Because she surrendered to God’s purpose for her, Esther became a star in the shining spotlight of Scripture!

I cannot guarantee the applause of earth, if you stand for God, but I can assure you of the approval of eternity!

When I see what is happening around our world today, and think about what might soon transpire, I begin to feel the icy fingers of anxiety tightening around my throat. Dreams of a delightful future are supplanted by nightmares of a dreadful fate.

In Tolkien’s epic, “Lord of the Rings,” we find the hobbit, Frodo, carrying the ring of power, which if falling into possession of the Dark Lord, Sauron, will mean the world will be enslaved by evil. Frodo is on a quest to destroy the ring and must go into the heart of the enemy’s domain to accomplish that mission. Frodo feels the weight of that responsibility and wishes it could be avoided.

He says to the wizard, Gandalf, “I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.”

Gandalf responds, “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.”

Gandalf’s answer is an illustration of the Providence of God, His name unspoken in this saga as in Esther—but, definitely, the One alluded to in both stories. Now God is adding us to His story, underpinned with the promise of Romans 8:28.

That is an encouraging thought!