Pastor Daniel Kolenda
‘So they told Mordecai Esther’s words. And Mordecai told them to answer Esther: “Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”’
– Esther 4:12-14
Esther is the only book in the bible where God is not mentioned one time. When you read it, however, you cannot help but see that God’s fingerprints are all over it. He is in the story even when He is not pointed out explicitly. He is organizing all things according to the counsel of His own.
God has a solution. In the moment, you may not see God’s hand in your story, but if you look back at a particular season in your life that you were in, suddenly a lot of things would make sense. You can look back at things that you’ve come through and you can remember times when you didn’t understand what God was doing but now you look back and you realize that it all makes sense.
GOD ALWAYS HAS A SOLUTION
Esther goes from the gutter to the palace. She is no longer the slave, but she has servants waiting on her. She’s living, eating, and dressing differently. And just as God raised up Esther, the enemy was also working. He is always plotting and always scheming. He plots to get rid of the Jewish people, but God already has a solution for his schemes.
Whatever the devil is trying to use to destroy you, rest assured that God has already put a solution in place and He has already got an antidote for that problem. God is always ten steps ahead of the devil. He is never caught off-guard.
DON’T FLATTER YOURSELF
Esther 4:13 says, “Then Mordecai told them to return this answer to Esther, Do not flatter yourself that you shall escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.”
God did not choose Esther because of her beauty, intelligence, education, or righteousness. Mordecai explains to Esther that she is not in the palace because of her beauty or because of anything she did. He reminds her that God put her there for a strategic purpose. He put her there because she was His solution.
You should be brought to your knees when you realize how blessed you are to be chosen by God to be a part of His work. It’s not because of you, but it’s in spite of you. God can raise up the next world changer overnight as He did with Esther. He needs no one’s permission. He can take someone from the gutter and He can put them in the palace. He can use someone that never went to Bible school or someone who never finished high school.
GOD WILL GET HIS WAY WITH OR WITHOUT YOU
God will always get His way in the end, one way or another. Sometimes He uses people like Pharaoh and hardens their hearts. You don’t get to choose whether or not He wins, you only get to choose whether you’re going to be on His team or not.
Esther 4:14 says, “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
If you stand in God’s way you will pay the price.
THE ONLY PERSON THAT STANDS A CHANCE OF LOSING IS YOU
The gifts and callings of God are irrevocable, but that doesn’t mean that any person is irreplaceable.
Esau was the one who was supposed to have his birthright and give it up for a bowl of porridge.
Saul continuously disobeyed God, so He passed over him and gave that legacy to David and it was through David’s line that the Messiah was eventually born.
God is not looking for the one with the most qualifications but He is looking for the ones that are the most yielded. He qualifies the yielded, He doesn’t choose the qualified.
APPLICATION QUESTIONS
How are you responding to the position that God has given you? Are you standing in God’s way? Or are you stepping up to the plate and doing what God has called you to do?
What do you need to turn away from that could be holding you back to run the race that Jesus has set before you?
