Right Place, Right Time

I had a friend back when I used to work in the Dining Facility who would poke at me and try to get under my skin. I was know for being a Pastor and devout in faith and he would always remind me that he left the church, and that there is not God. One day, he started explaining some unfortunate situations in his life, as he started to weep, clearly grieving. He said, “God doesn’t care about me or my circumstances. He’d rather be up there taking a nap while the world is going crazy.”

We live in a culture that predominantly doesn’t subscribe to the Christian Faith, or faith at all because of church hurt, and the concensus is that “God is up there sleeping”

I am encouraged by Psalm 121:3

Psalm 121:3 ESV

3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.

In our context for today, as we talk about Esther, our next Hall of Faith Character on this Kansas City Super Bowl Sunday, the children of Isreal are in a similar predicament. Ruled by the Persians during this time, the argument can be made, What is God doing? Where is God? In fact, God’s name is not mentioned one time in the entire book of Esther, yet we find that Esther is positioned by God for her people to be blessed.

Today’s Message is Titled: “Right Place, Right Time”

Proposition: In Esther 4:6-17, we will discover that it is better to walk in bold faith than it is to perish with no hope.

There are 3 reasons why it is better to walk in bold faith than it is to perish with no hope.

Esther 4:6–17 (ESV)

6 Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate,

7 and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.

Reason #1: God has a Plan (Genesis 17:6–7“6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.”)

C7- Haman was full of himself and wanted to witness the destruction of the Jewish race. What Haman cannot see with his natural perspective, is that God has a plan for his people dating all the way back to what he promised Abraham, and will always preserve his people. No matter how jacked up they can be sometimes.

8 Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.

9 And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said.

10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say,

11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”

Reason #2: God Gives Favor (Esther 5:2–3“2 And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. 3 And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.”” ).

C11- From the natural perspective, Esther has proximity but no influence. this is evident in her response that she has not been summoned by the king in these 30 days. She would be risking her life if she appeared unsummoned before the king.

12 And they told Mordecai what Esther had said.

13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.

14 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?”

Reason 3# God is Right on Time (Esther 5:10–13 “10 Nevertheless, Haman restrained himself and went home, and he sent and brought his friends and his wife Zeresh. 11 And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his riches, the number of his sons, all the promotions with which the king had honored him, and how he had advanced him above the officials and the servants of the king. 12 Then Haman said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the feast she prepared. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king. 13 Yet all this is worth nothing to me, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.””

C14- We often misconstrue God’s calling for our comfort. What if the promises spelled out in Jeremiah 29:11 “11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” means that God will prosper you even through discomfort and pain. This is this the case for Esther and her people, they seem to be estranged by God, left in their discomfort, lack of peace, and poverty as they are ruled by the Persians. Her cousin essentially tells her in this verse that whether she accepts the special favor God has given her to make a difference or not, God will raise someone else up to do the job, but she was favored, “for such a time as this. God will never renig on his promises.

Mordecai recognized God’s hand in the situation, even though his name was never mentioned. As I was reading the book of Esther in preparation for this message, I could feel God’s presence as the narrative unfolds.

You are called and favored, for such a time as this! Please, be like Esther, and do not miss out on the call of God and His glorious blessings. You are at the right place, at the right time.

15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,

16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

17 Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.