Set Apart For Such A Time As This

And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?

 

Esther 4:14

 

 

My maid and palace servants are buzzing around me, braiding and placing flowers in my hair, as I stand before this gigantic mirror in my room. I force myself to breath slowly, trying to calm myself. My mind keeps returning to three days ago, when my cousin, Mordecai, first told me the news.

Haman, the king's right hand man had issued a decree that all the Jews should be killed.

 

Mordecai's words still resonated in my ears like rolling thunder on a stormy night. He told me that even though I was queen, I would not be spared. As a Jew, I was still decreed to be killed. I felt as every Jew must have felt upon hearing the news—cornered.

 

What could be done?

 

I prayed fervently that God would interfere and protect us as He had through past generations. Perhaps He could come as a pillar of fire as in the days of Moses. Or He could send plagues to Haman as He had with Pharaoh. Maybe He could erase the decree inexplicably from all record, and undo it....

Mordecai had cleared his throat. "Esther, my child, Hadassah (Hadassah was her Hebrew name meaning "myrtle"). Have you not thought that the reason you have been made queen is to save your people?"

I gasped. "Even I cannot see the king without permission. Unless miraculously he was to show mercy, it would be my death!"

 

I sat down on the garden bench and stared into the fountain that I once found soothing and calming, too terrified to even cry.

 

"Do you remember when you were first brought to the palace?" Mordecai's voice grew soft. "You were taken away from your family to live apart from your people and the comforts you once new—were all those days spent in vain?"

I looked up at him, unsure as he continued.

 

"No, Esther, my dear, these turn of events have been directed by God to develop within you a special inner strength and trust in God. God was preparing you for this—so He could use you."

Imagine being chosen to be queen or king of your country. As exciting as that sounds, the price of your being chosen was separation from your loved ones, having to live with people who did not share your beliefs, and having to marry someone whom you had never met and who possessed questionable character.

Imagine having no choice in the matter… this was the story of Esther's life. She was a beautiful Jewish girl who was brought to the king's palace as one of the candidates to be queen. For a year before she was allowed to see the king, she had to undergo numerous beauty treatments. 

 

Esther's wise cousin, Mordecai, who had cared for her like a father before she was brought to the palace, advised her not to reveal her Jewish heritage to anyone. This was probably for her protection, but this secrecy could have separated her even further from the other women that she lived with. How lonely and out of place she must have felt! She must have wondered why God had sought her out and brought her to this place.

In a way, we are all like Esther. We too, have been set apart for God. Sometimes we may feel loneliness or as if we do not fit in, but we can hold fast to the assurance that God has brought us to such a place in order for Him to work in us and prepare us for our calling.

 

Do not loose heart in these uncertain and sometimes trying times, as God molds and shapes you for His work in furthering the Kingdom for His glory. During these times we need to be open to the leading and directing of the Holy Spirit, as God is teaching us valuable lessons which we may not be able to learn any other way or at any other time.