Serving Those Who Are In CrisisSýnishorn

“A Decision for Such a Time as This”

You may never have to make a life or death decision affecting an entire nation of people, as did Queen Esther. But you can learn several key principles from her decision that will guide you in deciding whether to help a person or group in distress.

The queen learned of orders authorizing the killing of her people, the Jews. But if she appealed to the king without a summons from him, she might be killed. Her cousin Mordecai challenged her with “what if you have become royalty for such a time as this?” That question turned the decision; the queen was all in: “If I die, I die.” And both Esther and her people were spared.

Mordecai’s question has inspired and challenged Christians over the years. Am I the right person at the right time to do something that God wants done? Maybe that “something” is my life’s purpose according to His plan.

Esther’s story carries with it another principle: “someone else will do it if I don’t” isn’t a valid excuse for a person who God has called for the task. Mordecai had given Esther a way out, of sorts, by telling her that God would find a means of rescuing His people if she did not. But she rightly decided that she had been called, and so she needed to act.