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April 20, 2014 |
| For Such a Time as This | ||
It would be hard to imagine a person who wasn't aware of the mass murder of Jews, by Hitler, in World War 2. His plan was to exterminate all the Jews. Whenever he conquered another country the first effort was to get the Jews of that country on the way to the death camps.
But most Christians aren't aware that there have been many such efforts in the past. Usually they have been smaller scale efforts. Many times Satan has shown his hatred for God's chosen people, but God has always seen to it that his people would survive because he still has plans for them.
Hitler's attempt to exterminate the Jews reminds us of another time when another person tried to exterminate all the Jewish people. His name was Haman and he came closer to succeeding than Hitler ever could have. All the Jews in the world were under the control of one government at that time. But at the last minute his plan was stopped and he was killed instead. The failure of the plan came at the hands of a young lady that God had picked, prepared and placed just for that purpose. Her name was Esther.
9 Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 "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 they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king."
12 When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 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 your royal position for such a time as this?"
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 "Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."
17 So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther's instructions.
Most of the rest of this lesson comes from a sermon by James May.
"We cannot always see the Hand of God in the midst of our situations but we must learn to trust Him and allow Him to have His will performed through us so that we will not miss accomplishing the work that He has called us to do for His Kingdom."1
"The story of Esther is one of the most well known stories of the entire Bible. It's a short book of only 10 chapters but it records for all posterity the faithfulness of a young Jewish girl who was born into slavery. She was a slave to King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), the son of King Darius. Darius was the King who had Daniel thrown into the lions' den. King Xerxes, troubled with distrust of his wife, Queen Vashti, had banished Vashti from Persia and then sought a new queen among the young women of his kingdom. This is when Esther was forced to become the Queen of Medo-Persia and wife of King Xerxes I."
It's very likely that Esther would not have desired or enjoyed palace life. Remember that these were not her people; their customs and practices were not those of her or her people. Not only that, her uncle Mordecai had instructed her not to tell anyone that she was a Jew. So every day she lived with the thought that she had to be careful what she said and to whom she said it.
As queen she was now confined to the harem. She could only contact the outside world through messengers. Thus she was mostly cutoff from her people.
Now she finds herself in the position where she is the only one of her people with access to the king who is the only one who could fix this situation. So not only is she in a palace she doesn't want to be in, cutoff from her people and instead with a people who aren't her people, but now she is in a situation she doesn't want to be in.
"Does this sound familiar to any of you? Do you feel that you are being pushed, dragged or convinced to move on into unfamiliar territory? Is there a tug at your heart to do something different? Is there a stirring in your heart that says something has to change?"
"The Christian walk is a faith walk! God doesn't always reveal His perfect will and allow us to see the destiny that He has set in place for our lives. He asks us to trust Him and take a leap of faith, allowing Him to guide our every step until we come to the end. Often, it is not until we have reached a milestone or accomplished a major goal that we can look back and see that God has been leading us all along."
"I have often had those who would come to me and say that they just could not understand why God has placed them in the position where they are right now. Perhaps God has placed us in a job environment, or a school environment, or a family situation where we are overwhelmed by the powers of darkness all around us. Perhaps you are questioning God, Why am I here? Can't I accomplish great things for your Kingdom at some other place? Isn't there an easier, more productive field where I can work and bring an increase of the harvest of souls into the Kingdom of God?"
"Esther felt that same pain in her life too! She could not understand why God would allow her to be forced to marry a pagan King and be taken from her family to live in a palace where she felt more like a prisoner than a Queen."
"According to the laws of Persia, she could not even go to her husband, the King, without prior approval. If Esther were to attempt to walk into the presence of the King, without permission, she would be instantly killed if he didn't want to see her."
"God is not forcing you to do anything - this is a volunteer army. At any time we desire, we can turn away from the place where God has us and do what we want to do. But, there are consequences to our disobedience"!
"We must stop to realize that God never allows anything into our lives by accident but that every circumstance that we face is there for a greater purpose than we can see at the moment."
"So, your job is negative, too time demanding, not exactly what you think that it ought to be - SO WHAT! There are no perfect jobs out there - NONE! Every one of us must learn to listen to God and make the best of whatever situation we find ourselves in."
"How many times have people come to me and said I just have to find a better job. I just have to find a better church. I just have to find a happier life! Oh friend, when are we going to realize that it isn't the job, the church, our spouse or our circumstances that determine our happiness? It is our attitude in the midst of the trials that determines our happiness!"
"Abraham Lincoln said, 'A man is about as happy as he makes up his mind to be!' You determine your own happiness by your own attitude. Don't allow your circumstances to steal your joy! I know life is unfair! I know that life is hard at times! I know that we often can't see the forest for the trees! But we must learn to trust God to bring into our path those things that He wills for our life and then help us to be victorious in whatever circumstances come."
"God has some of you in unpleasant job situations - let your light shine that men may see Jesus in you. You just might be the only light in that dark place. You have the message of hope that no one else may have so don't join in with the rest of the grumbling and complaining. Have faith in God, trust Him and let your life be a witness."
"God has some of you in troublesome home environments with unsaved parents or unsaved spouses - live for Jesus anyway! He has promised to let all things work out to your good. That little phrase, 'all things', covers a lot of ground. Your trust in God and commitment to Christ may be the only chance that your family will ever have to see what the Love of God is really all about. Let your light shine! Even if they never change and come to Christ, your duty is to live for God and love them anyway."
"Esther faced the possibility of death if she went to see King Xerxes unannounced. I want you to know that if you fail to carry out the will of God for your life, you may face the [spiritual] death penalty also. If we fail to live for God, we are in rebellion against God, and rebellion is sin, and the penalty of sin is death! We must be about our Father's business! We must work where we are and do the best we can under every circumstance and then trust God for the victory!"
"The day came when Esther's circumstances were proven to be according to God's providence. Through under-handed methods and because of hatred for the Jews, some of Xerxes' counselors had passed a decree that all of the Jews in the land of Persia were to be put to death because of a fear of rebellion against the king."
"Understand that the Devil never stops trying to destroy the Jews and He will never stop trying to destroy Christians either!'
"Pharaoh of Egypt had tried to destroy the Jews and God stopped him at the Red
Sea.
Haman of Persia in Queen Esther's day was trying once again.
Adolph Hitler and the German Republic would attempt to annihilate the Jews in
the death camps of WWII, but God would stop him.
The Antichrist in the last days will attempt to annihilate the Jews but Jesus
Christ will stop him."
"Just as Satan has attempted to destroy the Jews, he attempts to destroy those who are grafted into the family of God as Christians."
"His job is to kill, steal and destroy every one of you and he never sleeps and never quits trying but he will not succeed because Jesus is greater in you than the power of the devil over you."
"Esther came to realize that God had placed her in the palace of the King of Persia for this specific time and purpose. All of the hours of loneliness, separation from family and friends, questioning why God had allowed this to happen, wondering why she was destined to carry such a heavy burden all of her life, were now answered by the fact that God could use her to save her people and herself."
"'For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place …' were the words of Mordecai to Esther. He knew that she was afraid to speak. Who would not be under the penalty of death! Mordecai also knew that if Esther did not do her duty, that God would still deliver the Jews, but Esther would suffer for being disobedient."
"God isn't limited by whether we obey Him or not. To obey Him, step up and be courageous in the face of the devil's onslaught, and live for him in every circumstance is not easy, but to fail in doing so means rebellion and defeat. God's work will still be accomplished but we will suffer great loss."
"Have we missed God because we couldn't trust Him in our job and walked away only to face financial disaster? Have we left our church for greener pastures only to find that the pastures weren't any greener where we went? Have we rebelled in our circumstances and found that we missed God's best because we didn't see it through to the end?"
"When we face the difficulties, the hardships and the unfairness of life, let's not miss God by running away. Face your fears head on! Take that leap of faith! Trust in the Lord to guide your steps and He will see you through it all!"
"Has God placed you in your circumstances for a reason? You can stake your life upon the fact that He has it all under His control. There is nothing happening to you right now that God doesn't know about and that He hasn't already worked it out for your good if you are living for Him!"
"Perhaps, like Queen Esther, you have been brought to this place in your life:
This place of loneliness,
This place of fear,
This place of uncertainty,
This place of doubt,
This place of indecision,
This place of questioning God - all for a purpose!"
"Esther experienced every one of those same feelings - yet God had her in His perfect will. The feelings weren't wrong or sinful but to be disobedient to the call of God would have been sinful. Her obedience overcame every one of her fears, doubts and uncertainty."
"In the end, it is not these same feelings that are wrong for you and I to have. Action, obedience to God cures the fears, removes the doubts, gets rid of uncertainty, cures indecision, removes loneliness and answers every question. Step out by faith and watch God perform His word through us."
"For such a time as this God has brought us to where we are now!
For such a time as this - there are souls to be saved in the work place.
For such a time as this - there are many in our family who do not know God
For such a time as this - God is calling men, women, and young people, all of
His people to work in the fields and harvest souls for the Kingdom of God
For such a time as this - God has prepared you to teach a class, minister to
the lost and dying, and hurting people all around you."
"God has a purpose in your life and in every circumstance of your life. Put your trust in Him and let go and let God use you to bless others. He will see you through to the end and you will be victorious!"
God gives some people bigger roles to play. This isn't because they are better people but only because they are the right people, the people that God fashioned to be the right people for their roles. We are also fashioned for the roles that God has for us though they might be less visible.
Esther was the tool fashioned by God to save his people. She feared that she might die but she didn't.
Millions of Jews died in World War II but out of this the Jewish homeland, Israel, was reborn.
Just because you are in God's will does not mean that you will avoid persecution, injury, or death. Or we can look at it the other way around. Just because you are suffering does not mean you are not in God's will.
It isn't easy to do but we only have to be watchful for his leading and be ready to follow. He has set everything up and prepared you to be the instrument he needs to have to do his work.
If we don't or won't do the work God has for us, God will move his plan forward through someone else and we will lose out.
1 From a sermon by James May http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/for-such-a-time-as-this-james-may-sermon-on-esther-43423.asp?Page=1