Unlikely FighterSample

The Unknown Orphan

As you follow the plot twists in the biblical book of Esther—the true story of how an unknown, orphaned, exiled teenage girl rose to royalty and (spoiler alert!) courageously saved the Jewish people from destruction—two things jump out: 1. When God is involved, reality is often more amazing than fiction. 2. God can use anyone!

Esther lived in Persia, around 500 B.C. Roughly 120 years earlier, the King of Babylon had ransacked Jerusalem, exiling the Jews and dispersing them throughout the region, including Susa, where Xerxes, the king of Persia now reigned.

When Xerxes banishes his queen for disrespecting him, he assembles a huge harem of young virgins to search for a replacement. Esther, a Jewish orphan raised by her older cousin Mordecai, gets placed in the harem and prevails over all the girls to become the new queen. (She must have been quite the babe!)

Before long, one of Xerxes’ key officials hatches a plot to annihilate all the Jews throughout the kingdom, and he talks Xerxes into signing off on it. Neither of them realizes that Queen Esther is herself a Jew.

Esther learns of the plot through her cousin Mordecai, who urges her to use her influence to stop it. She prays and fasts for three days and recruits other Jews to do the same. Then she boldly approaches the king, even though anyone who did so unbidden was supposed to be put to death. (“If I perish, I perish,” she declares.)

King Xerxes prevents her death by extending his scepter, and then the story starts to get really wild (carve out 10 to 15 minutes, and read the whole book to see how!). In the end, Esther’s God-given courage not only saves the Jews’ lives, but it also leads many non-Jews throughout the kingdom to start following God (Esther 8:17).

Mordecai had faith that God would save the Jews whether Esther helped or not. But he also believed God had allowed her to be queen “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14), giving her the opportunity to help save her people.

The same is true for us. God doesn’t need us, but he’s placed us where we are to give us a chance to point those around us to Jesus’s goodness. By courageously sharing His love and truth, we can help lead others to eternal life and experience the joy of fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives.

Reflect:

What courageous steps of faith is God asking you to take?

Who can you share the Gospel with today?