Esther 4:14. [Mordecai said to Esther] 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?”
Where do you place your identity? Your career? Your education? Your sexuality? Your family? Your body? Your performance?
Esther is a story about identity. A Jewish girl who is made the Queen of Persia must decide who she is. And who she is going to be. When a plot emerges from within the king’s court to destroy all the Jews of the city, Esther is confronted with a life and death choice. Will she embrace her true identity as one of God’s chosen people, or will she hide comfortably within the walls of the Persian palace, while her people suffer and die outside those walls?
When confronted by her cousin, Mordecai, Esther finally realizes that she doesn’t exist only for herself. She exists as part of God’s much bigger redemption story. As she places her identity into God’s own identity, she finally begins to act like the queen that she is. A queen who will sacrifice her own life for her people.
Esther 4:15-16. 15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”
Do you believe that God has placed you exactly where he wants you? In your family, your workplace, your neighborhood, your church. Even this moment in history and the culture you live in. Do you believe that it is all for such a time as this. These places are not your identity, but you bring your identity in God into these places.
Maybe, like Esther, you are surrounded by people or a culture that is opposed to God. Maybe you’ve been afraid to speak up, to show who you really are, or WHOSE you really are. And maybe, like Esther, this fear has led to hiding and compromise.
Every day we are asked to make choices about our identity. Obviously they are rarely as ominous as Esther’s choice. But the spiritual battle that we face each day is still life and death isn’t it? And the truth is, like Mordecai said, God is going to win this battle in the end regardless of what we choose. His church will be relieved and delivered whether we decide to participate in that redemption or not.
But what if we are where we are for such a time as this? What if God wants to use you? Right now. Right where you are. To make a difference. And what if it begins with you embracing your true identity in Christ?
Five hundred years later, just like Esther, standing before the king, Jesus didn’t say, “IF I perish I perish.” He said, “WHEN I perish I perish.” Jesus didn’t hide his identity to save himself. He revealed his identity to save the world. And then, by his Spirit, he shared that identity with you and me, allowing us to reign with him in life (Rom. 5:17). Making us a gloriously betrothed church of Queen Esthers.
When Jesus is your treasure, your worth, your security, your hope, and your very life, then you can go into every day saying, “If I perish I perish.” “If I have to give it up, I will give it up.” “If I must sacrifice, I will sacrifice.” You can live boldly within your new identity in Christ. An identity that takes you beyond the “palaces” of this life. You can live boldly knowing that whatever you choose, God is going to win in the end. And you can live boldly knowing that today God has put you right where you are for such a time as this, for his kingdom purpose. Not to live for yourself, but for others. Not to hide and compromise, but to declare the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light.
“To live is Christ” means nothing in your life is random. You are exactly where God wants you to be for his redemptive purpose. Now, like Esther, you can embrace your identity in him, giving your life for others without fear of failure, loss, or even death. You can identify with Christ your Savior, whatever the cost.
You
Where have you hidden your identity in Christ?
You in Christ
Your identity is in Christ. How does this give your life boldness and purpose today?
Christ in you
What specific purpose do you think God has for you today? How does he want you to reveal Jesus to others?
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Playlist: For Such a Time As This
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To Live is Christ 