The Day of New Beginnings
For Such an Hour as This
Esther 4:
10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and ordered him to reply to Mordecai:
11 "All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king to the inner court who is not summoned, he has but one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days."
12 And they related Esther’s words to Mordecai.
Hopefully everyone is familiar with the story of Esther. If not, it would be good to read the book to get the full impact of this message. Esther is only a few chapters.
Two main themes are going on in Esther. The first is Esther being chosen from among many women to replace the former queen who angered the king by not responding to him when he called her into his presence. That by the way carries much spiritual significance in itself. The second theme is a plot to destroy all the Jews in the land.
Esther is urged to go before the king and plead for the lives of her people. This is where we pick up the story. If Esther goes before the king without being summoned, she could be put to death. She makes that clear to Mordecai, explaining she had not been summoned.
Listen to Mordecai’s reply:
13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, "Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews.
14 "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?"
Mordecai tells her being in the king’s palace was no guarantee for safety and if she didn’t act immediately her and her father’s house would perish and deliverance would arise from another place.
These passages gripped me. They apply so much to where we are right now. It’s a time when much is coming to birth. If we are waiting for a glorious calling and commissioning by God to go forward, the hour will pass us by. Others will be raised up to fulfill God’s purposes. Esther had to enter into the king’s presence by faith. She had to take the initiative even though the price could have been her life. So it is with us. We must recognize the hour and exercise faith to be the channels of deliverance and blessing to many. It’s not about having a special invitation to minister. God is not going to woo us in with special commissions, etc. We risk it all and come before the King to be the channels of deliverance. It just so happens that the king did indeed extend the golden scepter to Esther. But the deep confirmation we seek will not come until we exercise faith and believe we have been called for a purpose. THEN the golden scepter of confirmation will be extended to us.
Look at the last half of verse 14: “And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?" Everything in Esther’s life had been orchestrated to bring her to that point in time. Yet the final step had to be one of faith.
God is speaking to us. Let us not doubt it. Let us also realize that if we won’t be the channels He seeks, others will be raised up and we will be the most sorrowful of all creatures.
I do believe it’s our hour. Our faith to believe His calling will carry us through. If we remain silent, relief and deliverance will arise from another place, and we will perish spiritually (vs.14). Let’s go for it!