Right Place, Right Time
A nursing convention was being held at a hotel when a guest experienced a heart attack in the lobby. Immediately, more than two dozen caregivers came to his side and worked to keep him alive. The guest was incredibly grateful for all the nurses who were at the right place at the right time.
Esther was also at the right place at the right time. She’d been chosen to be queen after winning the king’s favor and approval (Esther 2:17). Yet a decree threatened her people, the Jews, so her cousin Mordecai encouraged her to use her position to appeal to the king to save them from certain death. “Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” he challenged her (4:14). Her decision to risk her life and “go to the king” (v. 16) to expose this evil plot saved the Jews from certain death (ch. 8). It’s apparent that Queen Esther understood that God had placed her in that position at just the right time.
Sometimes, we may wonder why situations happen or circumstances change. Perhaps we get frustrated and try to get things “back to normal.” God may have placed us in our current situation for a specific purpose. Today, as we encounter disruptions or changes, let’s ask God to show us if there’s something special He wants us to do as part of His perfect plan.
By Brent Hackett - Bread Ministries
Esther 4:10-16
10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”
12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”