For Such a Time as This

One of the blogs I follow is "I can teach my child" (www.icanteachmychild.com). She has great little lessons and things on it, but today her post was on Esther. I'm posting it below for you to read. Be blessed!

I'm knee-deep in my study of Esther.  I am loving every minute of it!   If you are at all familiar with the story of Esther, you have most likely heard these famous words spoken to her by her cousin, "Perhaps you came into this royal position for such a time as this."

You see, King Xerxes (Esther's husband) had just issued a decree issuing all Jews living in Babylon to be executed.  Mordecai begged Esther to go to the King and change his mind.  The only problem was, the law stated that anyone who went to the king without being summoned was to be killed unless he pardoned him/her.  Mordecai was pleading with Esther to take a chance.  He told her that perhaps she was chosen as Queen for this very purpose!

I can't help but get swept up in the drama of it all, especially when I recall details from the movie One Night with the King (the story of Esther).  No story is as fascinating as a Bible story!

Until now, I've never really been able to relate to this famous quote in the book of Esther.  After all, Esther was a queen and I am, well...not.  But this statement just goes back to the fact that God has had a plan for our lives before we were even conceived.  He placed Esther in that time period for that specific purpose just as he places each of us in this time in history, in this family, in this location...for a specific purpose. 

Don't believe me?  Here's scriptural proof:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart."  -Jeremiah 1:5a

"For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place,

when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;

all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be."  -Psalm 139:13-16

"For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." -Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he  predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."  Ephesians 1: 4-6


God has a purpose for each of our lives.  A purpose only we can fulfill.  It's easy to get down and think that our lives don't really matter (or at least it is for me), but God couldn't disagree more!  Unlike Esther, though, this purpose might not come down to a single decision in our lives.  It could just be what we do with each and every moment we've been given.