Deeper Waters: A 5-Day Devotional by Jeremy CampExemple

Day 4: Made For These Days

“If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” Esther 4:14 (NLT)

Does suffering ever make you feel like you’re at the wrong place at the wrong time? Like, maybe, if you had just arrived a few minutes earlier or taken a different route, life would somehow be easier?

When God places a call on your life, it will rarely be easy to walk out. It will likely take a good amount of bravery to step into everything He has for you. But it’s at the crossroads of our fear and God’s power where a deeper faith is forged. We only get to the deep end of faith by jumping in, and that takes unimaginable courage.

In the Bible, Esther took a wild leap of faith when she stood up to the king of Persia, boldly asking him to save her people. Ultimately, she risked her life and used her voice to rescue an entire nation. But just because God used her in a mighty way doesn’t mean she didn’t question His plan.

Esther regretted getting into the mess she found herself in many times. Repeatedly, she questioned history and her place in it.

Maybe you’re like Esther, and you’re questioning your purpose in this crazy world we live in today.

I’m sure you’ve heard the familiar saying: “When the world’s the darkest, we shine the brightest.” That can feel like a cheesy Christian cliché, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

When life gets weird, and the world literally feels like it’s upside-down, the single best thing we can do is run to Jesus. The closer we get to Christ, the more we reflect His light. The deeper our relationship with Him runs, the brighter our light for Him shines. It’s a byproduct of spending time in His presence.

God doesn’t make mistakes. I really believe you and I were meant to be here on Earth right here, right now, at this very point in His story.

You don’t have to be afraid to do what God’s called you to do. Like Esther, you were made for such a time as this.