BY JESSICA LANDMON
In honor of International Women’s Day, I felt it would be a great time to highlight an amazing woman in the Bible who has demonstrated strength, courage, and faith. Today, I would like to talk about Queen Esther who was placed in her position of royalty for “such a time as this.”
It all sounds so glamorous – crowns, jewels, attendants, title – but Esther was placed into a very trying set of circumstances. Her life and the life of her people were on the line as a royal decree was made to annihilate all the Jews. Her cousin Mordecai, being a great man of faith and wisdom, sent word to Esther and asked her to “go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.”
Esther is initially overcome with fear and knows that in the law of the land she could be put to death for approaching the king unsolicited. When she refuses, Mordecai responds back with a startling warning.
“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 your royal position for such a time as this? –Esther 4:12-14
I really want you to get a hold of this. Esther was placed here in this moment in time for this very thing. For her entire life, God had been preparing her for this. If she refused to fulfill her assignment because of fear or any other reason for that matter, God would send another. We are all replaceable in that sense. Her safety, however, would not be guaranteed. When you are outside of God’s will and plan for your life, you are extremely vulnerable because you are outside of His protection. The safest place to be is right in the path God puts you on – even if it is the most frightening place to be in the natural!
So, what does Esther choose to do? She chooses to FIGHT for her destiny. She resists all fear and makes a bold decree, “and if I perish, I perish.” Fear of death didn’t stop this woman of faith from fulfilling her calling.
Ladies, I know that God has positioned each of you for specific assignments. Will you follow Esther’s example and lay aside fear to accomplish the very thing God created you for, or will you let fear win? My prayer for each of you today is that you choose to take hold of all that God has in store for you and fight for your destiny.