Skip to main content

For Such A Time As This?

 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?” (Esther 4:14)

          As I think about today’s passage, the original Star Wars movie comes to mind; specifically, the scene in which Obi-Wan Kenobi gets R2D2 to play the message from Princess Leia, “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.”

The thing is, before Mordecai said the words in our passage today, and after Obi -Wan Kenobi invited Luke to go with him to deliver the data, Esther and Luke made excuses. Making excuses is a time-honored tradition. Moses did it. Aaron did it. Gideon did it. King Saul did it.

You were made for such a time as this – and so was I. I have to admit, I’m not necessarily excited about being made for such a time as this. I had some ideas about how I was going to respond to the pandemic, and quite often, feel useless because I’m not risking my life by caring for a COVID-19 patient. That’s not what’s needed where I am. What’s needed is someone to pull weeds. So here I am, with an MBA and technically five published books (two novels, a chapbook of poetry, and 2 family histories) and I’m pulling weeds… for free. I was made for this?

It reminds me of a story told of either Booker T. Washington or George Washington Carver – both of the Tuskegee Institute. He went to a wealthy home to seek a donation for the institute, and the woman who answered the door sent him to chop wood (as I recall.) He did so, and I think he received a small payment and left. Later, they met at a party of some sort, and she was aghast that she had sent such a noteworthy and important man to go chop wood. He dismissed the insult – and received a generous donation.

Moses was a prince, reduced to shepherding. Esther was a queen, reduced to begging. It’s no big deal if I was made for such a time as this when weeds need to be pulled. It’s no big deal…unless I make it so. We can either be what we were made to be for such a time as this, or we can make excuses, and probably still be what we were made to be for such a time as this.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more