When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: ‘Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 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 royal position for such a time as this?”** Esther 4:12-14 (NIV)**
There is nothing that comes to pass that God does not have purpose in it and that has not passed through His loving hands of mercy. Nothing. All arrives by His permission or His ordination. He is never taken by surprise or found wringing His Almighty Hands in desperation. Indeed, He Himself states in Isaiah 46:8-11 (NIV): “Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.” Indeed, each moment is pregnant with purpose whether we can ascertain that or not.
Further, God tells us through the pen of Solomon that there is a time for everything. In Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NIV) the wise man writes: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” Further, nothing comes to pass without God’s permission or ordination all accompanied with great purpose. And we are the great losers if we are not standing firm in His will, mature and fully assured knowing He has our best interest at heart in all allowed. Even the hard. He seeks to make us more and more like Jesus.
Consider our verse for today. The Jews were about to be annihilated by a wicked man but God had placed Esther in a position for such a time as this to thwart Haman’s horrific efforts. Absolutely, nothing takes God by surprise and is not without purpose. Nothing. And He can make calm out of chaos and something out of nothing by simply speaking.
We were not created for hedonism rather for Him. And everything God allows has eternal perspective in mind. Earth is not our home - rather our sojourn - heaven is and He is preparing His people for heaven. He has plans for each life that carry with them eternal purposes which we do not want to miss as His child. If we choose to follow Him, His plan for us is good, pleasing and perfect – even in the extremely difficult. Our prayers are to be that we would be fit to receive what God has determined from eternity past for us to obtain – that our hearts would desire what He has ordained.
“For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.”** Ecclesiastes 8:6 (NIV)**