For Such A Time As This…

Why are you positioned where you are? Why do you work where you work? Why do you live where you live? Why do you go to school where you go to school? Why do you go to church where you go to church? You do what you do because God has assigned you there - and here – “for such at time as this.”

Every now and then, we find ourselves at a moment in time that might be called a “pivot point” in history. In sports we call it the time for a big play - the time when the game is on the line. In the military, it’s “D-Day” – the battle that will win or lose the war. In business, it’s the sale that will put you over the top and into the black for the fiscal year.

When I think of what’s happening in our culture right now and consider that we are standing tiptoe on the edge of a new millennium and anticipate the opportunities that lie ahead for our church then I believe that we are at a strategic moment in time. You and I are here with the opportunity of a lifetime.

What we are going to study today became the turning point in Esther’s life.

The challenge Esther received is found in Esther 4:14 and it may very well be the challenge that our Savior has for you at this point in your life. “Who knows but that you have come to your position for such a time as this?” In other words, God has placed you where you are, not just to enjoy the benefits of life in America, but to build His kingdom, to help His people, to fulfill His purposes.

God created you for a divine appointment - a unique role to fulfill in your life - just like Esther! There is something you can do for God that no one else can do - a God-given niche only you can fill.

I don’t know what you think of when I say the words “key player in God’s plan” - probably someone in vocational ministry - but I hope you’ll start to think of the man or woman in the mirror. Of all His millions of children, you are the one God has positioned to rescue the people around you.

Like that Jewish girl placed in a strategic spot, you’ve been placed where you are “for such a time as this.” Think with me about three big ideas today.

You are where you are for such a time as this because…

1. God’s people are in distress.

In 538 BC, the Jews who were exiled in Persia were allowed to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple. But many exiles were reluctant to leave the relative security of Persia. The Persian Empire was huge, and the capital city was Susa -- located on the current borders between Iraq and Iran -- which was inhabited by thousands of Jews.

Against this backdrop, the story of Esther unfolds. The Persian King decreed that he wanted a new Queen. So a search began. All the beautiful young girls in the Empire were eligible to be the new queen.

Now, Esther was a poor, Jewish orphan. Her older cousin, Mordecai, had become her adopted father. He raised her well. And Esther was chosen. She was named the new Queen because of her extraordinary beauty, but also because of her grace. The King genuinely loved Esther, and would do anything for her. But he didn’t learn that his new Queen was a Jew!

Meanwhile, the King’s top assistant, an evil, ego-maniac named Haman, plotted to murder every Jewish man, woman and child in all of Persia. Esther’s cousin Mordecai, the Jew who raised Esther, had refused to bow down to him one day on the steps of the King’s court. So, this power-mad leader, Haman, manipulated the king to make a royal decree to have the Jews annihilated. At stake were the lives of thousands and thousands of God’s people. God’s people are in distress. A day was set for them to die. They lived with the threat of death.

Today, in America, we aren’t living with the threat of physical death. But God’s people are in distress!

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Hosea 4:6

People are dying for the truth. That’s why we are here – to bring life where there is death!

Today, we see the threat of death to family.

We see the threat of death to morality.

We see the threat of death to eternity.

Wherever there is a people of God there are enemies of God.

You are where you are for such a time as this because God’s people are in distress!

2. God’s person has been discovered.