For Such A Time As This

Would you rather listen than read? Listen here.

Queen Vashti

King Xerxes reclined in his chair at the table after dinner, sharing stories of his accomplishments and wealth. Other nobleman joined in telling their stories and bragging about who had achieved more. To out do the others, King Xerxes desires to show off his wife, Queen Vashti. He summons for her to come wearing only her crown.

Queen Vashti refuses his request. Outraged by her behavior, the other noblemen tell King Xerxes if he allows her to get away with this, then all the other women will follow her example. To keep the men happy, King Xerxes forbids Queen Vashti from ever entering his presence again.

As time moves on, King Xerxes misses Queen Vashti. His advisors tell him to start a search for a new wife. This begins the first beauty contest of the Bible. The king’s officials bring one virgin from each of the 127 provinces to the palace. The women go through extensive spa treatments and then go to the king when summoned.

For Such A Time As This

During the time of beautification, Esther wins the hearts of all the officials. They tell her exactly what to do to please the king and this brings Esther into the position God needed her in for such a time as this.

“If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

Esther 4:14 NLT

Mordecai

Mordecai, Esther’s uncle and guardian, had brought her to the palace hoping to earn the spot of queen. He also stayed close to the palace to watch her the best he could. Hamen, the king’s second in command, would walk around the palace and demand everyone bow as he walked by. Mordecai refused.

This refusal brought Hamen to extreme anger. Hamen deceived King Xerxes so he would make a decree for all the Jews to be killed in the month of Pur. Esther learns of the plot through Mordecai. He tells her he believes God put her in this position to save God’s people.

Esther

Esther comes up with a plan to tell the King what he has unknowingly done. She invites the king and Hamen to dinner and when the king asks her what she wants; she responds:

“If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared.”

Esther 7:3 NLT

Prior to the dinner, Hamen, in his outrage, had planned to have Mordecai executed. After Esther brings the deception into the light, Hamen is the one who faces execution.

I love this story. It shows us that in the depths of despair, when we can see no way forward, God makes a way. Mordecai could see no way out of this situation. The King had decreed that in the month of Pur everyone was to kill the Jews and you could keep all of their belongings.

Mordecai gathered other Jews together too fast and pray for the situation and for the Esther to change the mind of the king. Not only does God allow her to influence the king to make a new decree, but he also has Hamen executed on the same device Hamen had chosen for Mordecai. The king also puts Mordecai into Hamen’s position.

Deliverance

God turned every aspect of this situation around, and he wants to do this for us as well. I have shared some of my struggles with depression before in previous blog posts. If you have never faced depression, thank God for that. The imbalances in your brain can lead to dark places you never thought you could find yourself.

I struggled for years about some thoughts that had entered my mind and needed relief from the guilt and shame they brought with them. My friends prayed for me and in that prayer we revisited some of those dark places and we invited Jesus into them.

In moments where I had felt alone and scared. I suddenly saw Jesus there with me and felt peace. Where I once felt in solitude, I felt His comfort. When I invited God into the pain, He came in. He delivered me from where the enemy had taken hold, revealed the lies the enemy made me believe, and restored my brokenness.

Living In Freedom

God did this for the Jews in the book of Esther and He is still in the business of doing this today. He wants each of us living in the freedom that Christ came to offer.

God delivered the Jews in the book of Esther, and He is still in the business of doing this today. He wants each of us living in the freedom that Christ came to offer. Click To Tweet

One more thing I want to look at from the first scripture. It says, “deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place.” Mordecai says this to Esther, if you do not take action, God will do it some other way.

Mordecai believed that no matter what, God would deliver them. He knew what we each need to engrave on our hearts. God did not create us to live in the darkness of sin and shame. He wants us to live freely in Him.

I invite you to ask God into the moments where you need freedom. What area of your past can you not let go of? Where have you felt hurt or shame that you know is not from God and you need to have freedom?

Restoration

I encourage you to go back to that place in your mind and ask Jesus to show you where He was in that hard place. You may see Him in your mind sitting next to you where you had not seen Him when you were there physically. You may sense His presence in a new way that was not there before. But ask Him to reveal Himself.

I have done this multiple times, and this has brought so much healing. To know that Jesus was with me when I had not known it before. If you are not a visual person and find this practice hard, I encourage you to keep asking. It does not always happen on the first attempt. He is always with us and when we can relive the hard times but include Him in it; He redeems the pain. God heals what the enemy meant for evil.

“I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”

Hebrews 13:5 NLT

In the same way God prepared Esther, “for such a time as this,” He delivers us from our shame, restores us, and prepares us, “for such a time as this.”