This article about Queen Esther, is one of a series of articles built around the theme, “What would they say to us now?” From the perspective of eternity and a completed life, what would they say is really important to us today?
I have not sought difficult situations in which to minister, but throughout nearly 50 years of ministry, I have often found myself in them. Twice I have been called to pastor a church that had gone through a serious split and where there was still considerable division in the congregation. I had to pick up the pieces of the factions that remained.
While a rookie missionary, I became the field chairman and inherited a personnel situation that had festered for 20 years. The situation came to a head while I was chairman, and I had to deal with it. I had to deal with a situation for which I had no training or experience.
As I went through these situations, I often asked the Lord, why have you put me in this situation? Clearly, I did not want to deal with the situations, but that is where God had put me. I knew I was in God’s will, even though the predicaments were unpleasant.
Many of us have been called to serve in challenging situations, situations that we didn’t create but which we inherited, and we have asked “Why me?” We face situations where we ask, “Why this way?” and “Why now?” We say, “I don’t know how to deal with this. I’m over my head.” Often I have said, “I don’t know how I got into this.”
When the situation is over and you look back, you may understand, but in the middle of the problem, it can be tough.
I’ve learned that God puts us in difficult situations for two reasons.
First, he wants to work through us. Not every situation where God uses us is comfortable. Effective ministry often requires discomfort, inconvenience and pressure. The enemy is out to make it difficult and he has an extensive arsenal to attack you. God needs people to handle these difficult situations.
Second, he wants to work in us. God does more than work through us; he works in us. We grow personally when our faith is tested and we are stretched spiritually. God puts us in some places not for what we can do for him, but for what he wants to do in us.
I believe God worked through me to bring about positive good in every church I pastored, but the greatest change that took place while I pastored was the change that God brought about in me. I always learned more than I taught; I grew more than the people I mentored.
Wherever God has placed you, while you are accomplishing things for God, God is also at work in you. He places you in challenging situations to test your faith and conform you to his image.
The story of Esther is a story of courage and creative action. There are sudden twists and turns in the plot and there’s a great deal of intrigue and mystery.
If Esther were here, she could sum up the message of her life in one sentence. She would say: “God places you where he needs you!”
The story happened when Israel was in captivity in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar had invaded Israel and deported most of the Jews to Persia. Ahaseurus, sometimes called Xerxes, held a banquet. It was the mother of all banquets, lasting 180 days!
Vashti, the epitome of all women’s libbers, was summoned to a stag party and refused to turn up and the king was furious. The king immediately divorced her, fearing all the women in the country would follow her example of refusing to obey their husbands. There was a beauty pageant to find the king a new wife and Esther won, becoming the queen.
One of the interesting characters was Haman, who engineered events so there would be a mass execution of all Jews. No one knew, not even the king, that Esther was Jewish.
At this critical moment, Esther’s uncle sent word to Esther that she had to act. She was the only one who could save her countrymen. 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? (Esther 4:14).
You may think you have it tough where you are, but consider Esther.
Esther was in a different family. Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This girl, who was also known as Esther, was lovely in form and features, and Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died. (Esther 2:7).
Esther didn’t have her mom and dad nearby because they had died. Esther was an orphan. She was with relatives but it wasn’t the same as having her parents with her.
Esther was in a different country. The people of Israel had been taken into exile. They were in Persia, now known as Iran.
Esther was in a different culture. It was a culture totally different from her upbringing. She was surrounded by different religious practices.
Esther was in a royal family. She had major social adjustments. She went from exile to the palace; from orphan to beauty queen and from despised Jewish slave to the honored wife of the king.
Do you ever wonder why God has you where you are? Do you ever wish you were somewhere else? I’ve learned I’d rather be in the will of God than anywhere else. If you are in God’s will, then look up and keep on serving him, regardless of the circumstances. Remember: no place is out of place when you’re in God’s place.
What can we learn from Esther? How can we handle the place where God has placed us? How can we learn to blossom where we’re planted?
1. SHOW COURAGE IN THE FACE OF FEAR
Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he be put to death. The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.” (Esther 4:10-11).
Esther was fearful and hesitant and rightly so. People didn’t barge in on the king without being invited. There was serious protocol and the risk of instant death.
Esther needed courage to do what she was asked to do. You don’t need courage if you have nothing to fear.
Courage is a mark of leadership and a requirement for effective ministry. This is not a time for timidity in ministry.
Courage is not demonstrated by insight but by initiative. It’s not what you know but what you do in a crisis that marks a courageous leader.
Courage is not the absence of fear. The only reason you need courage is to face fear.
Being courageous is not being careless. Esther was careful and made preparations for her actions.
2. ACCEPT YOUR GOD-GIVEN CALLING
Only Esther could approach the king and intervene. This was her calling in life; this was her moment. God had placed her in this situation for this purpose. No one else could do what she was asked to do. If Esther didn’t approach the king, her people would die.
You may say, “I don’t like where I am and what I’m doing. I wish I were somewhere else.” That kind of thinking will destroy you. Accept your God-given calling.
We don’t choose what we want to do for God; he decides our calling. You may want someone else’s position but just serve where you are. Accept God’s assignment.
Mordecai said, for such a time as this… This was a critical time for the Jewish people, a turning point for the Jews.
We need to accept our calling for such a time as this. This is a day of international conflict and terrorism and a time when some of the world’s religious systems are rising up with militancy and political clout. This is a time of immense social upheaval and immorality.
But this is also a time of opportunity. God is already at work all around us. Just as God had been working all the circumstances to place Esther on the throne for this moment, God is at work all around you, though you may not see it yet.
Remember this:
“I am only one,
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything;
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
3. REMEMBER GOD’S PURPOSES ARE BIGGER THAN YOUR COMFORT
When we look at life only as it affects us, we limit what God wants to do. God’s purpose is bigger than us and our feelings. God’s purposes are more important than our comfort and convenience.
James was one of the early martyrs in the church. God’s purpose for him was bigger than his comfort. God used the martyrdom of James to infuse the church with power and dedication.
Mordecai’s answer to Esther had both good and bad news. The good news was she was queen. She had status, comfort, luxury, influence, affluence and servants. The bad news was that her privileges were not for her pleasure. That’s sobering. Many people go around as if what they have is for their personal enjoyment. Mature Christians say, nothing is my own; all that I have is for a higher purpose.
God positioned Esther in the palace so she could be used for a purpose bigger than herself.
God is a big God. None of us can grasp the full scope of God’s purposes. God is at work in all sorts of ways that we are totally unaware of. Let’s use whatever we have for his kingdom.
Prayer is not an alternative to action but the precursor to action. During a time of famine in Ethiopia, one of the Sisters of Charity who was working long hours helping people, was asked how she could cope with the situation and misery. She said, “We pray four hours a day. If we do not have God in our hearts we have nothing to give the people!”
4. DEPEND ON GOD, BUT USE YOUR HEAD
Esther relied on God, but she had a cleverly devised plan, Her plan wouldn’t work without God working, but God would work through her plan if her spirit was right. In fact, God gave her this clever plan.
Planning and goal-setting in the ministry is nothing more than getting to know God’s will. Esther planned how she would approach the king.
If Esther were here to tell us what she learned about being used by God, I think she would say, for a period of time you may not understand God’s planning and purpose for your life. Esther would say, there was a time when I didn’t understand what was happening. I’d lost my parents, I was exiled and then chosen in a beauty contest, but… God uses you to do what no other person can do.
Esther would say, when you realize God’s purpose for your life, you will feel empowered. It is totally awesome to be empowered by knowing your place and purpose in God’s kingdom.
Handling challenging circumstances is easier when you know God is in control. Everything in your life has prepared you for this moment so you can be effective as never before.
Remember, no place is out of place, when you are in God’s place!
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