Chosen For Such a Time as This

Esther 4:14 is one of my favorite Scriptures of encouragement, hope and purpose.

Esther was raised up from a lowly peasant girl, a nobody, to a queen. All that she could ever hope for and imagine was at her fingertips. She had it all. Then one day, the tables were turned and the reality of losing everything was at hand. Esther was faced with a decision that could cost her life. Her uncle, Mordecai, pleaded in desperation with Esther, for the lives of their people. She was asked to do the unthinkable; to approach the king uninvited meant death. If the struggle within Queen Esther wasn’t hard enough already, Mordecai put this final thought in her head: “Who knows, maybe you were elevated to this position for such a time as this.”

We are all familiar with this story and how it ends. Queen Esther courageously went before the king and found favor in his site and her people were saved. But are we familiar with the same story in our own lives? Have we been called to a greater purpose and not even realize it?

It’s easy to write off bad things that happen in our lives, or hard decisions that need to be made, as not being the will of God. We press hard against the doors that have been closed and search for cracks in windows that we can squeeze through just to breathe again and get away from the drama. We raise our clenched fists to God and ask why we suffer injustices. And while taking another road might be the will of God, what if, just maybe, we are in our current situation for such a time as this?

From beginning to end, God knows it all. He knows every need, every heart, and every desire of his children. He knows the best time to call those who are lost or in despair so they will hear. He knows the exact moment of opportunity to grab the attention of those he wants to reach. And, He places each and every one of us exactly where He wants us to obtain a greater goal.

If we can see through His eyes and align our thinking with His ways (for they are not our ways) our minds will be renewed and our perspective changed. If He orders the steps of the righteous and directs the paths of those who acknowledge Him, how can any moment, any encounter, any disappointment, any heartache or any situation not be of a divine appointment?

I encourage you, as you pray for direction, change or deliverance from your current situation, stop and ask yourself: What if God has placed me right where I am, for such a time as this? Do I represent Christ to someone in this situation? Am I the only hands of Christ they will ever feel? Am I the only light at the end of their tunnel of darkness? Was I chosen for such a time as this?