Created For a Purpose: For Such a Time as This

Do you like stories with suspense and action packed drama?  If so, this one is for you!

 The Setting

The story takes place in Persia in the year 483 B.C.  At this particular time in history, the whole nation of Israel, God’s chosen people, was living in this heathen land.

 Main Characters

Esther: Orphaned as a young child who had been a slave girl in this heathen land.  Through a chain of events, she is now the Queen, and twenty years old when this story takes place.

King Ahasuerus: Esther’s husband.

Mordecai:  Esther’s cousin and adopted father.  Though a Jew, he worked for the king.

Haman: The most powerful official in the empire next to the king himself. All the king’s officials bowed before him in deep reverence whenever he passed by; all that is except Mordecai, who bowed only to the one true God, not some heathen official.

 The Plot

Haman was furious that Mordecai would not bow to him, so he devised a plot to make it legal to kill, not only Mordecai, but all the Jews.  He convinced the king that they were a group of rebellious people certain to cause trouble for the empire. Deceived and seemingly without even a spur of conscious about slaughtering a whole tribe of people, the king granted Haman permission to carry out his plan.

Since Mordecai worked for the king, he had first-hand information about Haman’s plot to destroy all the Jews. Mordecai believed that Esther held the key to their deliverance since she was married to the king. So, he sends a message to her about Haman’s plot, with the urgency that “you have to go to the king, and plead for our people before they are all destroyed.”

 The Dialogue Between Esther and Mordecai (2013 Style)

Esther: “You have got to be kidding!  I can’t go to the king with this request.  Don’t you know that no one is allowed into the King’s presence uninvited, not even his wife? Why, I could get myself killed!  Really, Cuz, where is your brain?”

Mordecai:  “In case you have forgotten, you are Jewish, too. Do you really think you will escape when all other Jews are killed just because you live in the palace?   That crown on your head won’t save your neck.”

Think about it, Esther:

• Why do you think you were the exact right age at the exact right time to be chosen as Queen?
• Why among so many girls, did the king even favor you?  He could have made you just another one of his concubines! I can tell you, that man saw something beautiful about you inside and out.
• Something else you really should ponder when you lay your head on your satin pillow tonight: You may think it is a coincident that a Jewish woman is the Queen of Persia at this particular time in history.  But, if you ask me, I’d say it is Divine Providence.

 ““Who knows but that you have come into a royalty position for such a time as this?”

(Esther 4:11 NIV)

The End

And so it was - - Esther fasted and prayed about the situation and put herself under God’s protection.  The king gladly received her into his presence and granted her request to spare the whole nation of Israel.  In addition, the king ordered Haman, the one who devised the plot to kill all the Jews, hanged.

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 Write Your Own Story:  You, too, have a story that has a Setting, A Main Character, Plot, and a Dialogue that could be going on between you and God at the present time.  If so, be encouraged:

• Just like Esther, Divine Providence has pre-positioned you for a strategic purpose wherever you are.
•  Therefore, there is no need to fear miscarrying His plan and purpose.
•  If God created you and pre-positioned you for it, He will give you success.

 “Who knows but that you have come into a royalty position for such a time as this?”

 Prayer:  Heavenly Father, I pray for each of us to yield to your guidance to be whatever you have created us to be.  As we follow your leading, our story will have a Happy Ending just like Esther’s.