"For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
Esther 4:14
This was the counsel that Mordecai gave to Esther, his foster daughter, who was now the wife of King Ahasuerus, Queen of the Persian Empire, and the most powerful woman In the world. Mordecai knew that his advice could very well lead to her execution. He was asking her to stand up in the King’s presence uninvited and ask him to change an unjust law that would have resulted in the wholesale slaughter of the Jews throughout his Empire.
This was the equivalent of barging into the Oval Office at the White House In our day. The danger of assassination of the King was so high that the law required summary execution of anyone who tried to push past the royal guards. The only exception would be if the King himself took notice of her and decided to suspend the rule just this once and let her live.
But Mordecai, with eyes of faith, saw the invisible hand of God in placing his beloved daughter, Esther, in that place at that time. No one else in all the world had the potential access to Ahasuerus that she had. Esther agreed, but aware of the danger to herself, asked Mordecai and all the Jewish people in the city to fast and pray with her for three days before she made the attempt. Those were desperate times.
We are living in desperate times, too. The same forces that would have destroyed the Jews in the Persian Empire are at work today to silence the Word of God and the people who believe, live and preach it.
God will ensure that His Word ultimately prevails. He said that the gates of Hell would not prevail against His Church. But you and I were placed where we are “for such a time as this.” We are called to faithfully and boldly believe, speak and live God’s Word in this time and place for the salvation and preservation of many souls.
We might convince ourselves that the best policy is to just lie low and hope the anti-Christian forces at work won’t notice us, as Esther was certainly tempted to do. But Mordecai understood that the way it really works is this: If we fail to stand up in our day, the Kingdom of God will not be stopped or wiped out. God will see to that. But the Church in our country, that is our own family within the Kingdom, will not survive. It really is that simple.
Dear Christian, take your stand. Faithfully, lovingly, and humbly stand up and speak for what is right. Don’t be silent; not at this time. Who knows whether you have not been placed here, where you are, for such a time as this?
Lord Jesus, You are Lord of heaven and earth and Lord of my life. You have placed me in the family, the community, and the country of Your choosing for Your own purpose. Give me eyes to see and trust Your purpose and plan,and boldness to step up and be faithful here where I am, by Your design. Amen.
Pastor Dan Giles