Sandwiched into the story of Esther are the thought provoking words, ‘For such a time as this.’ (Esther 4:14) Esther’s cousin, Mordecai, was encouraging Esther to be courageous and do the right thing by pleading for the king to spare the lives of the Jewish people, her own people. Mordecai makes reference to Esther becoming queen and that perhaps that was all part of God’s greater plan, to put her into a position with the ability and opportunity to save the Jews.
Those six words of Mordecai always make me stop and think about life, right now. Where am I at in life and for what purpose has God placed me in my current situation?
With sickness, war, natural disasters, and suffering plaguing our world, I can often grow disheartened and feel powerless to help. My little life and sphere of influence is quite small and limited. Yet, Jesus doesn’t just use the popular, powerful, rich people to create positive change. He frequently uses all of us ordinary ones and invites us to make a difference for His kingdom.
Be encouraged today that your life matters. That even though you may feel insignificant, you are certainly important to those around you. We serve an intentional God, who sees life in totality and beyond time. If you are willing, God will use you to bring forth love, hope, and peace into this broken world. Look at your life exactly where you are at and believe in God’s strategic placement. You are exactly at this moment in life, in your specific family, town, school, church, and community ‘for such a time as this.’
Dear God,
Thank you for these encouraging words, that You have placed us exactly where we are at for a special purpose.
Help us to believe that we are truly your children and that we have good works to be doing on earth.
May our inspiration, enthusiasm, and perseverance be rooted in You.
Give us wisdom to see from Your eyes and recognise that none of us are here by accident.
Whether in small or large capacity, You can use us to share the good news of Jesus.
Holy Spirit guide us in living out our faith wherever we are, knowing that each day is an opportunity to know You more.
Thank you for unconditionally loving us and showing us how to extend that love to our world.
In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen.
Joy A. Mead 
Very encouraging message Joy. We can so easily feel overwhelmed with all that is happening but may we remember the purpose for which God has placed us in the place and time we are in. One of the things I remember reading somewhere that helps me is that with all the access we have of global events we can so easily feel helpless and that often renders us inactive in a way as we feel we can hardly make a difference. So even though our information remains global our action should always be mainly local. Which means that we should mainly focus on our local community and groups where we can make a difference so that way we continue to do the good works that God calls us to.
Blessings to you 😊
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Thank you Manu! You have some excellent points of trying to know what is happening in the world to pray and do what we can, yet keep our main actions more local. I love how Jesus told stories of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. In the same way, even if we just bless one person in our community, we are making a different by sharing God’s love. ❤️
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Exactly, love what you pointed out. Making a difference for just One person- if that is what God wants us to do then that is just what we should be doing.
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Beautiful encouragement! I’m reminded of the domino effect; one ripple impacts the entire chain…our kind deed, even a smile or a prayer can make a difference even if it’s just one person at a time—it has the impact to spread far and wide.
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Yes! I love the analogy of dominoes or ripples on the pond! I’m happy to be a ripple for Jesus. Thanks Alicia!
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❤️Amen!!
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