“When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 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?”
Esther 4:12-14, NIV
I have never done something that saved a nation. I haven’t been on the news or written about in the papers. Most of Indianapolis has never heard of me. I have never been confronted with the potentially life-threatening decision that was put before Esther. I can’t imagine the internal turmoil she experienced.
I wonder if we are so busy looking for our nation saving opportunity that we miss our life changing opportunities.
I have read and re-read the quote by Mordecai so many times in my life. I wondered and dreamed about what my “such a time as this” could be and would be. I’ve struggled with the smallness of my influence. How will I save a nation when I’m not known…when I’m not heard?
But what if my “such a time as this” is how I treat others I see everyday? How I interact with those I don’t know? How I come alongside those who have no one? How I show up for the unknown? I have been challenged by my God to show up in the lives of people who don’t have anyone to show up for them.
What would happen if we all showed up in that way? I am not saving a nation like Esther but I get to love a life that God has called me to love. If we all did that…could we save a nation? If we all answered the “such a time as this” call together, what could happen?
Dear Father, please open our eyes to your work and your call. May we not be so focused on the big work that we miss the many small works that change lives and then change the world. Father, it is not our work or our love but yours. Compel our hearts. Thank you for using us. To you be the glory. Amen.
Mandy (mkaybaldwin)
Sixty-six books in a year 