Esther 4:14 is an iconic and often quoted verse, but many don’t understand the context of the question posed in the verse.

Esther faced an impossible decision, approach the king uninvited and risk death or do nothing and allow her people to be slaughtered. In chapter 4 Mordecai explains the situation to Esther and challenges her with a question, “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Imagine being a young Jewish woman who finds herself the winner of a royal beauty pageant with the prize being becoming Queen. That’s exactly where we find Esther in this chapter. She hasn’t revealed her nationality to the King and now must choose whether to remain silent or approach her husband to save her people. Why?

Haman, another member of the King’s court, has manipulated and schemed to trick the King to order the genocide of all Jews. Desperate to stop the slaughter, Esther’s cousin, Mordecai, approached her, tells her what has transpired, and pleads with her to intervene.

And that brings us to verse 14. The question is more than a poetic challenge of answering a calling. The challenge could have cost Esther her life.
When viewed from the contextual perspective, the weight of the verse shifts from, “isn’t that a nice way to consider my response to God’s call on my life?” To “What is the cost to others if I don’t?” Or “what if this doesn’t go as I want it too?” And “do I trust God no matter what the outcome?”

The choice is truly to respond to the call and trust God. Esther trusted God no matter what the outcome and chose to risk death save her people. I pray that in every situation God places me, I will do the same.

ForSuchATime #dailyinspiration