For Such a Time As This

A nefarious villain has  contrived a plan whereby you, your family, and all of your relations will be exterminated. Your uncle believes you might have some leverage with the local authorities, but it's going to require some risk: you might be executed. You resist-- I mean, who wouldn't --but the seed has been planted, and Unc's words ring in your ears: Who knows if this isn't the very reason you were put here? You step up, the villain is defeated, and your purpose in life is celebrated throughout eternity. Can't you just hear the roar of the crowd?

My modern, extremely abbreviated adaptation of the book Esther aside, God has created each one of us for a reason. Westminster catechism says that our "chief end", our greatest reason for being, is "to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. In Esther 4:14, Mordecai, when encouraging Esther to stand up and expose Haman's conspiracy against the Jewish people, cautions her:

Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Easy to see the purpose for which Esther was created, she saved the people of God. It's all here in black and white. Or is it? If you read on, Esther did advocate for God's people, Esther did talk to the king about legislating a different ending for them and a much unexpected ending for Haman. Ta-da! But Esther is not our hero here. If the purpose of Scripture is to reveal who God is, perhaps Esther's purpose was more about revealing God's infinite knowledge of events, offering Esther, in this place at this time, an opportunity to do what God called her to do. Perhaps "purpose" was more about God's sovereignty, using Hadassah's (Esther's given, Israelite name) abduction for the good of His people; about God's hatred of evil, so much so He took swift action to put an end to it and spare His chosen. And speaking of His chosen, because of God's calling on Mordecai and Esther, and their obedience, the line of ancestry that would be Jesus' was preserved, God Incarnate would be born, our Savior would bear our sins and take them with Him to the grave; He would rise again, guaranteeing our resurrection, ascend to Heaven to prepare for the arrival of those who, He has chosen to be sons and daughters of God. Talk about purpose!

So what is God calling you to do today? Save a nation? Right a wrong? Well the truth of it is your obedience will always point to God's purpose. So let's just glorify God with our whole being and enjoy Him forever. For such a time as this.