For Such a Time as This: Embracing Your Divine Purpose

Have you ever felt like God placed you exactly where you are for a specific purpose? Queen Esther's story offers a powerful blueprint for discovering your divine calling in the most unexpected circumstances.

From orphaned Jewish girl to Persian queen, Esther's journey reveals how God positions us strategically, often through painful circumstances we don't understand at the time. Her story particularly resonates for those feeling displaced, fearful, or uncertain about their purpose. What makes Esther's narrative so compelling is that while God's name never appears in the biblical book bearing her name, His sovereign hand orchestrates every detail behind the scenes.

When Esther finds herself in the palace after being taken from her home, she undergoes a year-long preparation period – six months with oil of myrrh and six with perfumes and cosmetics. This lengthy season of seemingly mundane preparation mirrors our own spiritual journeys where God often works in hidden ways, building our character before our calling becomes clear. As we follow Esther's progression from reluctance to bold courage, we discover a profound truth: "Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's obedience despite the fear."

The most pivotal moment comes when Mordecai challenges Esther with the immortal words, "Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" This question transcends time, challenging each of us to consider our divine positioning. What if your unique experiences – even the painful ones – have been preparing you for a God-ordained moment that requires your voice, your influence, your courage? Esther's response, "If I perish, I perish," demonstrates the surrendered heart God can use to change history.

Ready to discover your own "for such a time as this" moment? Subscribe to Divine Harmony Faith podcast for more biblical wisdom that connects ancient truth to your modern journey. God has positioned you with purpose – and your yes to Him will ripple into places you can't yet imagine.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Esther's Story
• 4:18 Esther's Background and Rise
• 7:14 The Preparation Season
• 10:50 Haman's Plot Against the Jews
• 14:12 "For Such a Time as This"
• 16:08 Closing Reflections and Prayer

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:09

Welcome to Divine Harmony Faith, the podcast where faith meets purpose and together we learn to walk boldly in God's truth. I'm your host, cliché Rice, and on today's episode we are diving into the powerful, courageous and divinely orchestrated story of Queen Esther, a young woman who risked everything to stand in the gap for her people and showed us exactly what it means to say yes to God's call even when the odds feel overwhelming. So if you're tuning in today, whether you're driving, getting home or getting your kids together for school sitting with your journal or just needing a word, I want you to lean in, open your heart, because I truly believe the Holy Spirit wants to speak something fresh to you today through Esther's story. You were born with purpose. You were born for now, you were born for a time such as this, so let's get into it. So, guys, the story of Esther unfolds in the Old Testament in the book named after her.

Speaker 1: 1:16

Esther. It's a unique book. You'll notice something right away. The name of God is never mentioned in this book, not even once, but his presence and his fingerprint is all over this chapter. So that reminds me of real life sometimes, doesn't it? Sometimes we don't see God mentioned, or we don't even feel him. We don't hear him loudly, but if we slow down and pay attention, his handprint is all over our story. So maybe you're living through a chapter right now where you're wondering God, where are you? I want you to hear me. He is present, he is active, he is moving behind the scenes, even when it's not obvious. So please, please, keep that in mind.

Speaker 1: 2:05

So, esther, guys, esther, she originally was named Hadassah. She was a young Jewish girl living under Persian rule. She had already endured so much, losing both of her parents. She was raised by her older cousin, mordecai. Now, mordecai wasn't just a distant relative. He stepped in as like a true father figure. He loved her, he protected her, he guided her. And I know that sometimes we have people also that maybe you know someone stepped in when life left us vulnerable. You know it might've been like a grandparent and on a mentor, teacher you know something like that or someone who saw you, who loved you, who said you're mine to protect now and that's God's provision right there, that's his provision for us. So, even in loss, god has, you know, been setting Esther up for something greater, and maybe that's true for you too, right? Maybe what feels like abandonment is actually preparation for your assignment.

Speaker 1: 3:05

At this time, persia was ruled by a king, a man who loved to throw grand parties. This guy loved parties. During one of his extravagant banquets, he called for Queen Vashti to parade herself before his guests, and she refused. Now, hear me, vashti gets a lot of heat sometimes, but that's a courage. She stood up for her dignity and it cost her everything. Her crown was stripped away because she refused.

Speaker 1: 3:34

A search began across the empire for beautiful young women to be brought into the palace, and Esther was one of them. So that's how she ended up in the palace. She was taken from her home, brought into a foreign place, surrounded by strangers, forced into a process she didn't choose, nor that she probably understood. Can you imagine the fear, the uncertainty, the grief that she had to be feeling? But right alongside that fear was favor, because Esther immediately gained favor with Haggai, the man overseeing the women, and with those around her. So she was different. She was set apart, definitely, definitely set apart. And I want to tell someone today favor will find you where God has assigned you. Ok. Even if you feel unseen, even if you feel displaced, even if you feel unqualified, god's favor knows your name, ok. So just remember that. Because, just like Esther, she had no idea what she was walking into, but God, god's favor was upon her. She was looked at graciously by everyone who was around her.

Speaker 1: 4:43

So before Esther could meet the king, she underwent a full year of preparation. So there was six months of beauty treatments with oils and myrrh and six months with perfumes and cosmetics getting her all ready to meet the king. Now let's think about that An entire year for one defining moment. A year that probably seemed so long to Esther. It was probably repetitive, tedious routines for one audience with the king to another. And isn't that just how God works sometimes? Isn't that how he works? Like we want stuff now, now, now, and three years later, we're doing something that God spoke to us about three years before. So a preparation season can be very long, and they are long, they're hidden, they're hard, but they're never wasted. We have to remember that during the preparation season, that's where we're being built up, that's where God is guiding us and leading us into what he has planned for us. But he has to build us spiritually, mentally, physically to endure what he wants us to go through, and that's what the preparation season is for.

Speaker 1: 5:55

So some of you right now are in your preparation season and it feels like nothing is happening. It feels like everyone else is moving forward, while you're just stuck oiling and perfuming and waiting for the king. But listen, god is preparing you for a moment. Every late night you pray every act of obedience no one else sees, every sacrifice you make in secret. It's all preparation. So God is setting the stage not just for your blessing, but for your impact.

Speaker 1: 6:22

So whether Esther finally stood before the king? No-transcript. He placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen. She had favor with him well before she finally stood in front of him, but she still kept her Jewish identity hidden because Mordecai had instructed her to do so. Here's a word for somebody. Sometimes your full identity and purpose won't be revealed immediately. Sometimes you have to move in silence until God says now, obedience in the quiet places positions you for victory in the public ones. So don't ever, ever feel like you know your obedience is wasted or it's not being seen, because it's being seen by God and you have to move in silence sometimes until he says now, because you're in the preparation season, so your identity and purpose, it'll be revealed to you in due time, when God says it's time right Now.

Speaker 1: 7:31

Guess what, guys? The plot thickens, so enters this guy named Haman. He was second in command to the king, a man full of pride and arrogance. Mordecai, being a faithful Jew, refused to bow down to Haman, and that disrespect burned a hole in Haman's heart. Now keep this in mind, guys Haman is not the king, and he is so upset that Mordecai won't bow down to him. Rather than just punishing Mordecai, haman hatched a much deeper plan. He convinced the king to sign a decree to wipe out all the Jews in the empire. Imagine that, like, you're just going to wipe out a whole nation because you're mad that one guy didn't bow down to you all because of that one man's offense.

Speaker 1: 8:13

Let's pause right here for a second. When pride goes unchecked, it becomes destructive, not just to ourselves, but to everyone around us. Maybe you've encountered a Haman spirit before. Like I know, I have Someone whose offense turns into an all out assault, someone who weaponizes their influence to tear others down. I have definitely experienced that. But don't you worry, take heart, because God sees every plot, every plan, every hidden agenda, and he uses it for your good.

Speaker 1: 8:46

So Mordecai responded to this decree the only way he knew how through mourning and fasting and crying out for help. Through mourning and fasting and crying out for help. And let's pause right there for a second, because Mordecai responded to this injustice against him and his people by crying out for help and fasting, praying, talking to God, crying out for help, fasting the way that we should all respond to situations in our lives. He sent word to Esther begging her to intervene. But here's the thing, guys Going before the king without an invitation, even as queen, could mean death. So just imagine how fearful Esther had to be, or how doubtful she was that she could even get it done Right. Her fear gripped her. Maybe you're facing a calling that terrifies you too, a step that feels so tricky and risky, a conversation too costly, a decision too scary, and that's okay. Fear doesn't disqualify you. It's what you do with the fear that matters.

Speaker 1: 9:52

So Mordecai's message to Esther is one of the most iconic, powerful words of faith we find in the scripture. And he says to her in Esther 4.14, 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. But you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that? Who knows? But that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this? And that's Esther 4.14. For such a time as this. Those words echo across centuries. What if you were born for this moment? What if your experiences, your upbringing, your struggles, your victories, all of it has been preparing you for something bigger than you realize?

Speaker 1: 10:42

Esther's response with stunning bravery, she says to him and this is in Esther 4.16, go gather all the Jews, fast for me. Don't even wait, do it real quick. Do not eat or drink for three days. I and my attendants will fast as you do, and if I perish, I perish. Imagine that bravery. I will go on your behalf because I'm called to and I'm going to be obedient, even on to death. Wow, I only pray. God gives me the courage and obedience that Esther has. She didn't say she wasn't afraid. She said she said she would go anyway. Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's obedience despite the fear. Right Three days later, esther approaches the king and the king extended his golden scepter towards her, signaling life.

Speaker 1: 11:46

That moment, right there. That's favor meeting obedience. But Esther doesn't beg. Right away she invites the king and Haman to a banquet and then another. She moves strategically, prayfully, boldly. And at the second banquet, esther reveals the truth, one that she's a Jew. She's a Jew Not that she's a Jewish, but she's a Jew.

Speaker 1: 12:13

Haman's plan would destroy her people and herself, and when she did that, the king was furious. Haman was terrified and God's divine justice rolled into motion. Because that's how our God is. He shows up and shows out the very gallows Haman built for Mordecai to be hung from. He was hung on them himself. What the enemy meant for evil. God turned around for good and a new decree was issued allowing the Jews to defend themselves. They did and they won. Victory, joy, celebration, excitement, excitement.

Speaker 1: 12:48

So what does Esther's story teach us today? It teaches us that God uses the unlikely right. Esther was an orphan. She was a woman. Back then, women weren't allowed to speak up and do things like this. They had to be quiet in the background. She was an exile in a foreign land, so she wasn't even from Persia. She was a Jew. But guess what? She was also. She was positioned there by God. She was covered by God. She was empowered by God.

Speaker 1: 13:21

You may not have a crown on your head, but, hear me, you carry the favor of heaven. Remember that. Walk in that you may feel unqualified, you may feel small, you may feel afraid, but when you say yes to God, you step into destiny. What is God calling you to stand up for? What bold step is he asking you to take? Where is he asking you to risk it all for his glory? Maybe your Esther moment is speaking truth when it's unpopular raising godly children in a chaotic world, launching that ministry, starting that business, me starting this podcast, stepping into leadership. You were born for such a time as this. As we close, I want you to know you are seen, you are known and you are called. The same God who put Esther's story out of pain, risk and boldness is weaving yours right now. Trust him, be courageous, say yes, because your yes will ripple into places you can't even imagine yet.

Speaker 1: 14:42

Let's pray, father in heaven. Thank you for Esther's story, a reminder that even when we feel invisible, lord God, you are working, strengthening us to be bold. Help us to trust your timing, father God. Equip us to stand firm in faith even when fear tries to paralyze us. Lord Jesus, use our lives, father, for your glory, we surrender it all to you In Jesus' name, amen and amen.

Speaker 1: 15:16

I never want to take for granted that everyone listening today knows Jesus. You can be long before you believe, but I want to extend an invitation for you to personally know Jesus Christ. If you haven't yet experienced his goodness and would like to, I invite you to pray this prayer with me. Lord God, I am a sinner, forgive me. Today, I repent and ask you to come into my heart and my life, turn me around and make me a new creation. If you have prayed that prayer, you are now a child of God. I celebrate this step you've taken.

Speaker 1: 15:54

Now I encourage you to find a Bible-based church that teaches directly from Scripture. Also, feel free to reach out to us at DivineHarmonyFaithcom. We'd love to hear from you, answer any questions you may have. Pray for you and with you, you, and keep you encouraged. We have awesome resources journals and Bible studies and things like that that you can access from the website. So just go ahead and step out there. Reach out. We have a community. We are here for you, so welcome home, as always. If you enjoyed today's message, please don't forget to like, share and subscribe so we can continue to like, share and subscribe, so we can continue to spread the gospel, the good news to those that want to hear it and those that don't. You can reach us online, as I said, at divineharmonyfaithcom, where all the many ways to connect with us are listed, including Instagram and YouTube and more. Be blessed. Know that I love you and, most importantly, god loves you. Goodbye. Know that I love you and, most importantly, god loves you. Goodbye.