For Such a Time as This - September 21
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 80; PM Psalm 77, [79]; Esther 4:4-17; Acts 18:1-11; Luke (1:1-4),3:1-14
Today’s Reflection
I was so excited to find Esther among the scriptures I get to reflect on and write about this week. Back when I used to read a children’s Bible to my daughter at bedtime—and we read through it so many times it began to fall apart—the story she always loved best and would ask me to read again and again was the story of Esther. For little girls, few stories in the Bible include women in such exciting, superhero-like circumstances as does the story of Esther. Because Esther is a young woman, it is easier for some little girls—and grownup women, too—to picture themselves in the story, to imagine what they would do if they were in Esther’s shoes.
Esther is, of course, one of the few instances of a woman in the Bible whose character is more fully developed over the course of a narrative arc. And not only that, but she is depicted as exhibiting great courage, creativity, and grace under pressure. Here is a young woman of the Jewish faith who ended up in the royal court of a Persian king, Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes I). When the king had a falling out with his queen and decided to make Esther the new queen, she is propelled unexpectedly into a position of great influence.
At first, when Esther was in the king’s court, she had tried to blend in, even taking a second name that would hide her Jewish identity. But when her guardian-kinsman Mordecai learns that the king’s crony Haman is plotting to kill all the Jews in the vicinity, Mordecai challenges Esther to rise to the occasion: “Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).
Esther plotted with Mordecai, using her position of influence to save their people. In that moment of truth, “when the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. And she said, ‘If it please the king… let an order be written to revoke the letters written by Haman… which he wrote to destroy the Jews. … For how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?’” (Esther 8: 4-6).
So, too, do we find ourselves and our fellow human beings living under equally dramatic and perilous conditions today. Lives are at risk. Principles are on the line. But especially in this time of global pandemic, climate crises, political turmoil, and societal unrest, God still wants to make his love manifest in and through you and me.
Recently, I heard myself saying (in a conversation about moving and accepting a new ministry call amidst a pandemic), “Well, I wasn’t going to let a pandemic stop me from doing what God wants me to do.” And after I said it and I heard those words hanging in the air, I immediately thought, “Wow, that sounds kind of bold. Maybe too bold.”
As a person who values humility, the thought of coming across too strong struck me as problematic, and so I started to question having said this. But, as I reflected on it, well after the conversation ended, I decided that, in fact, it had not been too bold because I was articulating a good kind of boldness: Boldness in the sense of stepping out in faith, believing that God has opened a path for me—and us—to do something new, even in this time of mask-wearing, physical distancing, and quarantine. A bold belief that God has called and prepared me—and you—to bear God’s light and love in just such a time as this.
God is still working, even when the circumstances seem—at least on the surface—least likely for good things to happen. Over the years, I have found that it is in these difficult times when God’s plans can surprise us most with their boldness. With C.S. Lewis, we, too, may find ourselves “surprised by joy.”
These are tough times. You may find yourself facing difficult choices, moments of decision with potentially life-changing consequences—for you, and perhaps also for the lives of others. But like Esther, God has given you all that you need to live into this moment in history.
And who knows? Perhaps you, too, have been prepared by God to do something bold in a time such as this.
—Becky+
Questions for Self-Reflection
Reflect on a struggle or challenging circumstance you have lived through in the past (maybe the distant past, or maybe recently). What did you learn about yourself by making it through that struggle or challenge? What did you learn about the people in your life? What did you learn about God?
Daily Challenge
Looking around at the challenging circumstances in which we are now living, think of one specific way you can use the gifts God has given you to improve the life of another person (or a group of people) in “such a time as this.”