In the entire book of Esther, God’s name is not mentioned even once. This bothers some people. But even though His name isn’t in this book, His hand is. It’s called His providence, which simply means that God supernaturally arranges natural events so that a supernatural outcome comes to pass. So, God really is the star of the story.
In chapter 4, Mordecai told his cousin, Queen Esther, to intercede before the king for her people, the Jews, who were facing annihilation. She reminded him that anyone who went in to the king without being summoned would be killed unless the king held out his scepter to them. Esther said, “Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days” (v. 11).
Get a load of Mordecai’s response: “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?” (vv. 13-14).
That statement reminds me of what Winston Churchill told the House of Commons in 1940: “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say: ‘This was their finest hour.'” Likewise, Mordecai’s speech changed the course of world history. He was saying, “Esther, this could be your finest hour. This could be why you are here.”
Here’s the great truth to all this: God doesn’t need any of us. Do you realize that? But when God somehow works His unalterable plan, you can be part of that plan. So, are you in or out? It’s up to you.
Esther was all in. She acted with bravery. She told Mordecai to have all the Jews fast for her. “And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” (v. 16). She was willing to risk it all, to do God’s will, whatever the cost.
In the New Testament, everybody warned the apostle Paul of the dangers on his way to Jerusalem. But He said, “None of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). It was the same resolve as Esther.
Now, for Esther, everything was against her: the law, the government, and even the fact that she was a woman. But she was a woman of beauty, brains, and bravery, who reasoned that it was better to die for a conviction than to live with a compromise. The Bible says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).
So, let’s stop spending our lives on frivolous things—and start investing it in the kingdom. Ask yourself this simple question: What would God have me do to change the world I’m in? It’s time to step out from the walls of doctrine and belief and to act on what we say we believe. It’s no accident that you are alive right now. What is it that God wants you to do? When you discover that, it’s the most freeing way to live.
Ask God for the spiritual insight you need not just to spend your time, but to invest your time and your life in His kingdom. Get all in, like Esther, and ask Him to fill you afresh with the Holy Spirit, so you can be His ambassador for such a time as this.
