Esther 4

And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: "Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai: "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!"

(Est 4:13-16)

This has got to be one of my favorite passages in all of scripture. It is SO POWERFUL. The hand of God has moved, and the reason is coming to the surface… it will take a tremendous step of faith, but it looks like Esther has been given the opportunity to save the Jews from total destruction.

The scene goes something like this. Mordecai hears word about all that has gone down, and the pending doom of the Jews, and he tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth and ashes, and begins to wail. He doesn’t just cry, he weeps and mourns… His entire people is about to be wiped out. This scene is recreated all throughout the land; as word spreads among the Jews there is an outcry! They weep, they lament, and they adorn themselves in sackcloth and ashes… AND THEY FAST.

All across the land the Jews stop eating and start crying out to God. They plead for salvation; they know that He alone is their only hope. Meanwhile Mordecai works his way as close to the palace as he can get, and Esther gets word that he is mourning. This distresses Esther so she sends down new clothes for him so he can enter the palace, but he refuses to wear them. Not ready to give up, she sends a messenger down t find out what has happened. Mordecai sends up a copy of the decree signed by the king… her husband, the king! She can’t believe what she is reading! The servant tells her that Mordecai wants her to go to the king and plead for her people. She is afraid. If she does this, she could die. This is where our incredible verses come in… Mordecai reminds her that this may be the very reason that the Lord has brought her into the palace in the first place! She may have been appointed for “such a time as this”.

Her response is so great… it shows a faith that is so deep. Having counted the cost she decides to go and says “if I perish, I perish”. She asked only one thing… that Mordecai and the other Jews would fast and pray.

Today I leave the application in your lap… have you been called for “such a time as this”? What does that mean for you?