Esther

August 19

Esther 4:2-14

For a time like this

When Mordecai heard about the king’s order to kill every Jew in Babylon, he tore his clothes in despair. As the message spread from town to town, the Jews fasted and wept.

At first, Esther didn’t know about the king’s order, so she sent her assistant to find out from Mordecai what all the fuss was about. Mordecai sent back a message asking her to beg the king to have mercy on her people.

Esther was afraid of going to the king because by law, anyone who went to speak to him without being invited could be killed. But Mordecai said to her, “If you keep quiet at this time, God will use someone else. And who knows, maybe you were made queen for a time like this.”

Is there such a thing as coincidence or fate?

Do things just happen by chance, or is there a plan and purpose for everything in life? If you were to throw a tennis ball into a crowd of people, one person is likely to get hit, and that person may ask, ‘Why me?’ We could say that the person just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

However, when it comes to the everyday events in our lives, God leaves nothing to chance! We are far too precious for God not to be in control of our lives every minute of every day.

Esther was in the right place at the right time. God had everything under control when King Nebuchadnezzar brought her people from Jerusalem to Babylon. God planned that King Xerxes would banish Queen Vashti when she refused to appear before him. God made sure that the king would look for a new queen and that Esther would be chosen. Then God used Mordecai, Esther’s cousin, to tell her exactly what to do.

When you live close to God, nothing can go wrong with God’s perfect plan for your life!

Verse for today   

The LORD Almighty has sworn, "Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.” Isaiah 14:24