Where God wants you to be
1 Jun 2021
Do you ever feel small and insignificant? The famous Bible character we know as Queen Esther probably did too. In her story we have a young, unassuming woman who probably doesn’t feel that her life is very significant. She’s part of a people group living in exile-the nobodies in town. She’s known grief and loss in losing both her parents.
I want to focus on probably the most famous verse in the book of Esther, which says: “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14 ESV).
God placed Esther in a place she never expected to be: queen of one of the greatest empires of the Ancient World. But it wasn’t for her own sake she was there. She was there for a specific purpose in a specific time. And because she was obedient and willing to be used by God, an entire people group were saved.
There’s another significant figure in this story: her cousin, Mordecai. Here we have the person who speaks truth boldly into Esther’s life. He encourages her to rise to the occasion and points her to God when she’s overwhelmed by fear and doubt.
We might not be given a nation or people to save and rescue. We might feel like our lives are small and insignificant, nothing like a brave queen. But my encouragement to you is to live faithfully in the small things. For me on the field it was 15 students to teach for a season, it was five English teachers to train. For you it might be the kids or grandkids you’re raising, it might be your daily 9-5 job, it might be the interaction you have in the supermarket or your conversation with a neighbour.
And beyond our own lives, we also have the role of being Mordecai-speaking truth and encouraging others and being part of what God is doing through someone else. This is what my supporters, prayer partners and sending churches are for me. And without Mordecai’s faithfulness and promoting, who knows how the Queen Esther story may have turned out?
It might feel mundane, or that it’s not achieving much; you might not feel successful or significant or that you’re making a difference. But do not doubt that God has you in a place and time for His purposes. Do not doubt that the encouraging word you say to someone, the message you send, the prayer you pray on their behalf is significant in His kingdom.
– A Pioneers worker serving in North Africa.
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