For such a time as this…..

This is Esther’s moment.

She’s been told that Mordecai is in great distress at the king’s gate.

She finds out why.

She discovers Haman’s plan to exterminate all the Jews.

Which will include her. She will not escape.

Mordecai believes there is only one thing to do. He wants her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.

But that could mean certain death. No one can enter the king’s presence without being summoned. We saw that with Nehemiah too.

She’s caught between a rock and a hard place.

There will be consequences to saying nothing. To doing nothing. There always are.

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish.  Esther 4:14

Consider this quote from Martin Niemoller, a Lutheran pastor, a German theologian and an anti-Nazi dissident in the 1930s. He knew this truth all too well.

So this is Esther’s moment. The moment God has been preparing her for. The moment she was born for.

And she knows it. She cannot do it alone. She needs the support of her people. She needs the support of God on her side.

‘Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.’  Esther 4:16

The idea that each one of us has been created ‘for such a time as this’ is appealing. Inspiring. Challenging. Think on that phrase for you life as you listen to and watch this song – ‘For such a time as this’ by Wayne Watson.

It says it all far better than I ever could. I find it very moving, as someone who struggles every day with the futility of life. The futility of my life.

Now, all I have is now
To be faithful, to be holy and to shine
Lighting up the darkness
Right now, I really have no choice
But to voice the truth to the nations
A generation looking for God

For such a time as this
I was placed upon the earth
To hear the voice of God
And do His will, whatever it is

For such a time as this
For now and all the days He gives
I am here, I am here and I am His
For such a time as this

You, do you ever wonder why
Seems like the grass is always greener
Under everybody else’s sky
But right here, right here for this time and place
You can live a mirror of His mercy
A forgiven image of grace

For such a time as this
I was placed upon the earth
To hear the voice of God
And do His will, whatever it is

For such a time as this
For now and all the days He gives
I am here, I am here and I am His
For such a time as this

Can’t change what’s happened till now
But we can change what will be
By living in holiness
That the world will see Jesus

For such a time as this
I was placed upon the earth
To hear the voice of God
And do His will, whatever it is

For such a time as this
For now and all the days He gives
I am here, I am here and I am His
For such a time as this

Now, all I have is now. To be faithful, to be holy and to shine, lighting up the darkness.

Wherever I am. Whoever I am talking to. Whatever I am doing.

You, do you ever wonder why?  Yes, all the time. Pretty much every moment of every day. Why am I here? What am I doing here? What is the point of me?

But right here, right here for this time and place, you can live a mirror of His mercy, a forgiven image of grace. Yes, I can do that. If that is enough, I can do that. I will trust that that is enough.

Maybe like Esther, there will be a massive ‘for such a time as this’ moment in my life. Maybe not. Maybe our ‘time’ will be smaller, less significant, less newsworthy……but just as faithful and obedient and trusting of the on true God who created us and loves us and walks with us……

So…..I am here, I am here and I am His for such a time as this.

Whatever ‘this’ is.