Such A Time As This

Esther 4:13-14; John 12:27-28

Esther 4:13-14  Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.   For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
John 12:27-28 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.  Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

  Esther was faced with a very difficult choice: let her people die, and die with them herself, or try to stop it and possibly be killed by her husband the king. Her uncle Mordecai reminded her that it's entirely possible that God allowed her to become queen for this very moment. In John, we're shown a moment where Jesus is praying. He's telling God that He's worried. The human in Him doesn't want to go through the pain that is coming. But at the same time, He knows that He came to this very moment for this reason. Have you ever been in a situation that it felt like no matter what choice you made you could die like Esther? Have you been afraid to go through the pain of something to get to the other side? I think everyone is faced with some situation that we're scared to face. It's human to be scared, worried and stressed. It's okay to be that way. As long as we remember, like Jesus and Esther did, that we were brought to this specific moment, for a specific reason. Our whole lives have been building up to this point.
   Jesus adds in His prayer "Father, glorify thy name". He knew that God would be glorified in the course of this time. He knew that God was in control, and that there was a plan and a purpose for Him. Only Jesus could save mankind. Only Esther could save the Jews at that time. In going through the hard parts, God would be glorified and everything would be better for everyone. When we get scared we need to remember that God has a plan and a purpose, and that He's going to get us through this.
  In Esther 9:25 we're given a summary of what happened after Mordecai gave Esther his advice.
Esther9:25 - But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his [Haman's] wicked device, which he [Haman] devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
Esther went to the king, and the king allowed her to live, and he also allowed the Jews to fight for their lives and had their enemy killed. Everyone was better off, except for Haman anyway.
  In Luke 24:5-6 we're shown a scene where the disciples had gone to see Jesus, and an angel told them that He was alive! He was no longer with the dead, instead He was among the living. In Hebrews 2:9 and 15 we're told why He even had to come.
Hebrews 2:9,15 "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."
He had to come to die for us so that we could be saved from death and bondage of sin. So, He came, He died, He left the tomb alive, and we're saved if we accept His gift. However, that isn't where it stops. In Matthew 28:20, we're given some of Jesus' last words on earth:
Matthew 28:20 "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." 
He didn't just walk out of that grave. He is still alive. He ascended into Heaven, and He is with us today, through the good times and the bad. All the way to the end of the world. The end of the world is going to be a scary time, and a lot of people are going to have to face it. But Jesus promises that He's going to be with us even then.  No matter what comes our way, when we're scared out of our minds, and we feel like the world is crashing down on us, Jesus is with us. God has a plan for us, and He will get us safely through it and He will be glorified through it in the end.

|At the end of the devotional and meeting, each lady was given a copy of the following blog|
http://www.incourage.me/2011/04/its-okay-not-to-be-okay.html