Here is a very short version of how Esther came to save her people from genocide:
The King fired his queen because she would not wear his crown. Picked from a beauty contest, Esther becomes the new queen and she risks her life by approaching the king and unveiling a plot to kill all the Jews created by an evil man who was angry when her cousin would not bow to him.
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 royal position for such a time as this?"
The law of the king stated that anyone approaching his highness without being summoned was to be put to death. Esther knew the danger. Rather than keeping silent, gambling that her life would be spared, she listened to the urging of her cousin, Mordecai when he said, "...and who knows but that you have come to a royal position for such a time as this".
Something tells me that Esther was wishing she had never found favor with the king. She had on her hands the decision between certain death for herself and hopeful salvation for the Jewish citizenry. What a burden to be placed on a young orphan. Yet, when she does the right thing, the Lord remains faithful and spins the circumstances so that the nation of Israel within the Persian empire is saved from annihalation.
Mordecai was right. Esther had become queen "for such a time as this". The king, the queen, the pawns were all in order. The hand of the Lord directed the events of this grand game of chess.
Could situations in your life be orchestrated similarly by the Lord. Could names and positions be substituted for Esther's in this verse? Let us imagine how that might read:
Who knows? Perhaps you have come to BE A TEACHER for just such a time as this.
Who knows? Perhaps you have come to LOOSE YOUR JOB for just such a time as this.
Who knows? Perhaps you have come to THIS COMMUNITY for just such a time as this.
Who knows? Perhaps you have come to HAVE CANCER for just such a time as this.
Who knows? Perhaps you have come to EARN THIS BONUS for just such a time as this.
Who knows? Perhaps you have come to THIS BIBLE STUDY for just such a time as this.
Who knows? Perhaps you have come to BE IN A LONG CHECK OUT LINE for just such a time as this.
Not all circumstances are going to appear fruitful when they come knocking. Esther's certainly did not. It is not until we look back at the whole story, the painted portrait, the woven tapestry that we see exactly what the "such a time" was.
Next time conditions seem helpless, hopeless, and heavy-laden make a commitment to ask, "is this for such a time as this". Like cousin Mordecai said, the deliverance could come from another place. But, why let it? Be the one that allows their life to be the one that makes the difference, "for such a time as this".
