Friday October 19, 2018

 

There will be times in our lives when we ask ourselves, why? Why is this happening to me? Why did I lose my job? Why did my family fall apart? Why do I feel so alone? Why is my health deteriorating? And why do I keep making so many mistakes?

 

Perhaps you are on the other side of the coin; you are the one who looks at life and you see that you are blessed beyond your wildest dreams. You wonder why God has blessed you so much? I can imagine that this was the way Esther felt. She was an orphan, a young Hebrew lady born in a foreign land, probably wondering why her life circumstances were so horrible. Then suddenly she went from being an orphan to becoming the queen of Persia.

 

ESTHER 4:14 NLT

Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this.

 

Forgive me for sounding arrogant, but I know the answer to the question asked of Esther. Yes Esther, the entirety of your life, the good, the bad, and the ugly were all orchestrated by God for such a time as this. Let me briefly describe the circumstances surrounding Esther. A decree was issued that all Jews living in Persia were to be put to death. Esther however, being of Hebrew ancestry and in her capacity as Queen of Persia, was in a unique position to go before the King to plead on behalf of the Jews. There was one small problem though; the King did not know that Esther was Hebrew and secondly, going before the King to make a request uninvited, was against the law and punishable by death. As uncomfortable as Esther’s circumstances were, God had divinely placed her in this moment in history.

 

It does not matter where you find yourself today, understand one thing; God is a Master at taking our messed up lives, turning them, around and strategically positioning us to bless others. Moreover, what you perceive to be a negative, God can turn into a positive. This reminds me of a dear friend of my wife and I, Minerva Garcia. Several years ago she lost her husband, father to their two children, to cancer. God then placed her in the city of Orlando, Florida where she now counsels and helps people who are going through situations similar and at times worse than hers.

 

Not too long ago, a gunman entered a gay nightclub in Orlando and gunned down 49 people and injured countless others. This establishment happens to be a few blocks away from where Minerva works. Could this be a coincidence? I don’t think so. God took the most tragic circumstances of her life and strategically positioned her to be of assistance to these victims during the most tragic time of their lives.

 

I am not implying that God brings us tragedy in order for us to help others. What I am saying is, that in an evil world where death has entered through no fault of God; He wants to use our tragedies and turn them around so that we can be a blessing to many others. Whether you are experiencing difficulties or whether you are blessed, you are where you are for such a time as this.

 

To walk in Esther’s shoes is to know that God has placed you exactly where you are for such a time as this.