A Brave Woman

I have been doing a Bible Readthrough since September. I just recently finished reading through the book of Esther. I am so stirred by Mordecai's words to Esther when she is afraid to act in behalf of her people Israel. He says,

Do not imagine that you in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?

Esther became queen. God was certainly in charge of this event. But she was not put in that position of power in order to save herself. She was put their in order to save others. So often I seek to be in positions of influence, large and small. Most of the time it is because I want to save myself from boredom or irrelevancy or poverty or a number of other things. But why would God ever decide to put me into a position of power or influence? I can't imagine that it would be for any reason other than helping and saving those who cannot help or save themselves.

What a call on a pastor, a father, a husband, a friend, a white middle-class man. To use any power or influence that God has allowed me to have in order to save and help others. What an amazing way to reflect the life of our Lord, who used his power, his wisdom, his divinity in order to save helpless rebels.