<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Untitled Document "For Such A Time As This"
There is a story in Esther of how she learned of the plot of an evil man named Haman to destroy all the Jews of the land of the Persians. By God's providence, she had become the queen, and by a petition to the King, she was allowed to make a decree that the Jews could assemble and defend themselves against all enemies. During this process, Esther had a problem. There was a rule that nobody could approach the King unless they had been summoned to appear before him. The body guards were under penalty of death if they let anyone near, no matter who it was. When Esther was counseled to bring her request to the King, she was fearful. Her cousin, Mordecai, encouraged her to take a brave step towards the King. In Esther 4:13-14, Mordecai told Esther that she would not be exempt from being put to death if this happened.
We read in 4:14: "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?" What Mordecai was saying was that God will protect His people, with whoever would stand up to defend them. Mordecai just pointed out that somehow God placed her in a position that she could make a difference, and help her people. It is a great story from God's word.
We do not always know how the providence of God works. The scriptures do not address what we believe to be common. God finds ways to accomplish His will, and He uses people to do it. We are mindful in the days of the Jews when God decided to punish His people, that He would use even godless nations to accomplish His purpose. Remember that God sent Moses to Egypt carrying a rod, and Moses lead nearly two million Israelites towards the promised land. God used Saul, whom He named Paul to take the gospel message of Christ unto the Gentiles. Just knowing how much Jews despised Gentiles would reveal how much Paul had to overcome to present the love of God towards all mankind.
We must also bring out the fact that the providence of God exists today. We may not be able to explain it by scripture, but we also believe in it. The words given to Esther are something we need to consider about ourselves. If by the providence of God, we come across the path of a seeker, or someone wanting to learn about Christ and His church, we need to understand that God put us there to help this individual. If we ignore the opportunity, we can be sure that God will use someone else. But as the sage admonition from her cousin would go: We do not know if we were placed here in this time and place for such an occasion to influence and/or assist someone in need of the truth.
Our job is to make the effort to share God's word. God is the one who will bring forth the results. I do not know how many times I hear that someone read one of my articles and was uplifted in spirit, or found the answer they were looking for. Most of the time I am not even aware that I have helped someone by my writing. So if by my effort of trying to serve God, that He uses me to make contact with someone who needs salvation, it is not my place to withhold the truth from anyone. God's word will accomplish what God wants. It is our sharing of that word that will help people receive salvation.
By Carey Scott

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