When Esther’s words were relayed to Mordecai, he sent back to her this reply: “Do not imagine that because you are in the king’s palace you alone will escape the fate of all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” – Esther 4:12-14 BSB
Warrior;
The book of Esther takes place during the time of King Xerxes, aka King Ahasuerus, who ruled Persia from 486-465 BC. Esther tells the story of a beautiful Jewish girl, Esther, whom the King chooses to be a ‘replacement’ queen to one that disrespected him, Queen Vashti. When Haman plotted to murder ALL the Jews, Esther’s Uncle, who was more like a father- Mordechai, persuaded Esther to use her newfound position as Queen to save her\his people. She had to risk approaching the king, without being summoned- which was punishable by death- to appeal to the King to save her people from the evil plan of Haman. There are many well-known verses in this book and many lessons to be learned. Let’s consider 7 lessons to be learned. The 1st is the most famous, the one we targeted in today’s post, Esther 4:12-14. ‘For Such a Time as this’, is synonymous with the book of Esther. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) The situation you are in, might be for a different purpose than you realize. “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure ” (Philippians 2:13). God’s Plan for your life, is to be THE PLAN for your life. The 2nd lesson is the first we should have seen. In the 1st Chapter, v 17-20 reminds us that Leadership is a LOOP. As leaders we must flex our P E C’s. Leadership is all about Permission, Example and Culture (PEC). “For the queen’s behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt… So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout his kingdom, for it is vast, all women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike.” We give people permission with our actions. What are you giving people permission to do? Do your actions lead others to follow after God, or to follow after the world? 3rd Lesson is that if you have a weak leader, then power can be manipulated. Haman tricked the king (3:8-9), Esther and Mordecai manipulated the King (Chapters 5-8), Weak Leadership easily gives up authority to others, to please others, to take that path of least resistance. The difference between leadership and management is that Leaders work to do the RIGHT THINGS, whereas managers work to DO THINGS right. As Stephen Covey said, “Efficient leadership without effective Leadership, is like straightening deck chairs on the Titanic! In America today we are experiencing this with the current regime- we are taking on water, but talking about Equity, identifying 30 genders, having men destroy women’s sports, worrying about what pronouns to use and worshipping the creation while mocking the Creator, with the philosophy of ‘Save the trees and kill the children’.
Leader, lesson #4; God has a plan! Mordecai says in Esther 4:14, “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Mordecai is reinforcing the meaning for Esther’s current station in life and even for her existence. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 2:10) Lesson #5 We need to stay connected to our SOURCE, our guide, our GOD! Fasting and praying were critical in this story, in this book, and in our story, in our book, we too need to stay connected to God so that it is His WILL, His WAY, HIS WORD! Even though the book of Esther never mentions GOD, it is clear that Esther felt His presence and leaned on that relationship for a deeper understanding and guidance. It is also evident that a heavenly presence was needed in order for things on the earth to come into fruition. We All need guidance from above if we are to fulfill God’s purposes on this planet. Esther realized she needed guidance and direction to get her through this challenging time. Through fasting and prayer Esther was able to open up for true spiritual growth that would help her develop into the person God needed her to be. Fasting and prayer allow us to keep our focus on God and to remove distractions that often get in the way and allow individuals to walk on the narrow path, which is filled with humility. This is why many people never find the narrow path.
Conduit, Lesson #6, God requires obedience, this leads to FAITH. Remember FAITH as defined by the BIBLE is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see. Through Obedience, we learn to have FAITH. Consider, if it weren’t for Esther’s obedience, God’s people would have suffered from genocide. Just like if King Saul would have been obedient and killed all of the Amalekites there would be no Haman. See 1 Samuel 15:3. Esther saved God’s people by being obedient and leading others to the same obedient practices. When Esther approached the king without being requested, she had absolutely no idea what would happen. Would she be accepted, would she be killed, would she be replaced…? She was obedient in her Faith and did what God directed her to do! In doing so she acted in direct disobedience of a worldly King– and for that an entire nation was saved and we read about it thousands of years later! God requires obedience from His children. For such a time as this! Lesson #7, if you are a child of God, then it is impossible to claim VICTIM STATUS. It is impossible for 2 opposing things to occupy the same space in time. It cannot be day and night at the same time. Just like you can NOT have unmerited favor, Grace, and be a prince/princess of the Kingdom of God and also claim to be a VICTIM of anything in this world. We crucified Christ. On the cross, our Lord spoke 7 times. The first thing He said was, “forgive them Father, for they know not what they do”. Jesus chose the Cross, He was NOT a victim, and neither are His chosen! We must be careful what we attach to our identity! You are a child of God, you are a Saint, you are more than a conqueror! God uses all the unfairness, unjustness and bad stuff that happens to us to make us more like His Son, Jesus. Jesus is our example, it was Jesus’ own personal description of Himself. “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”. Jesus was saying, What you see me doing, you do. God is in control. His plan is falling into place. You have been created for such a Time as this! If you want to play big in this time, you must know, the Time. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God! In other words, GET IN THE WORD- the Time is Now!!
Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional 