Our Divine Purpose
Read time: About 5 minutes
Esther 4:14 “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
The story of Queen Esther, who was a Jew married to a Persian King and living in a culture that was hostile to her faith, can be our story as well. She was called to be Queen in a land of exile some 450 years BC. One of the king’s officials, Haman, conceived a plan to exterminate the Jews from the kingdom and Queen Esther was in a position to influence the King to save her people. At great personal risk she takes action after prayer and fasting and the King is sympathetic to her appeal and the Jews are saved from genocide.
We, like Queen Esther, may be a victim of our circumstances and feel powerless in the face of all that is going on. In our time it appears that truth and integrity has been lost in political circles. Religion seems to have lost respect in the public eye. Truth seems to be whatever the individual wants it to be. Even science is ignored if it does not support the agenda of those in power. Those of us who grew up in a very different culture can easily feel like we are in exile as we see the death of common sense, the loss of traditional values, and the increase in senseless violence.
We see that initially Queen Esther was afraid to act. She could not even enter the Kings presence without an invitation. If anyone came to the king without being invited the penalty could be death if the king was not pleased. However her uncle Mordecai said to her – how do you know that you have not been born for such a time as this? And it turns out that he was right. She took the risk, influenced the King, and her people and culture were saved.
The truth is that every one of us is born for the very time we are in. Scripture says that God knew all of our days before one of them came to be. He knew all of the challenges that each of us would face and he equipped us to do what we are called to do. While we may not be called to solve all the world’s problems, we can address the needs of the people that God has put in our lives and in doing so have influence on the world around us. Like Queen Esther we can all pray and then take action as the needs present themselves. When we do this every day it can be a day of hope and purpose.
While it is true that we are all called to be part of the solution and not part of the problem we must keep in mind that Jesus said in John 15:4–5 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
As we listen to Jesus and pray humbly, understanding that apart from him we cannot be fruitful, the Holy Spirit will guide us with inspiration to a fruitful life. He will reveal to us our purpose each day and make us part of the Divine solution for the day.
As Pentecost is upon us let us pray that the Holy Spirit would come and empower each of us like He did the disciples in that upper room many years ago … that we would receive courage and power to be his witnesses to the good news to those around us in ways unique to each of us.