The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. Proverbs 16:4
“Right time, right place” is a phrase commonly used to indicate good fortune. Conversely, “wrong time, wrong place” is often used to describe an unfortunate outcome or tragedy. Both of these imply coincidence, luck, or fate rather than direction at the hand of our sovereign Lord. When it comes to God’s sovereignty and planning, people readily accept that our Creator is directly responsible for placing us in circumstances that we view as a blessing or useful service to God and man. However, there is a great reluctance to include the difficult circumstances in life as God ordained placement, equipping, refinement, or calling home. To put it another way, God is often seen as decidedly directing blessings, but assuming a reactionary role in trials. Nevertheless, while God does not perpetrate evil, He resolutely creates each person, actively directs the course of their lives and decisively places them to accomplish His purposes. Therefore, as the verse above indicates, we (both God fearing and wicked) are all created with purpose and equipped accordingly and Esther was no exception.
So it came about when the command and decree of the king were heard and many young ladies were gathered to the citadel of Susa into the custody of Hegai, that Esther was taken to the king’s palace into the custody of Hegai, who was in charge of the women. Now the young lady pleased him and found favor with him. So he quickly provided her with her cosmetics and food, gave her seven choice maids from the king’s palace and transferred her and her maids to the best place in the harem. Esther 2:8-9
Esther was an orphan being raised in Susa by her cousin Mordecai. God had created her with beauty and grace so that she would be viable candidate to replace Queen Vashti. In addition to the necessary physical and social attributes, the Lord also afforded Esther favor with those in charge of the process so that: she swiftly received the best cosmetics and diet, her servants were carefully selected, and her quarters in the palace were the best. In other words, she was given every possible advantage to succeed. When the time came for her to be presented before the king, God provided the favor of the king as well so that she would become Queen.
(As a side note, God was making provisions to place Mordecai in the palace as well by positioning him to overhear a plot against the king, furnishing the initiative to report the conspiracy, and giving him the favor of the king.)
Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “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 4:13-14
We all enjoy the fairytales with maidens that are rescued by a prince, marry and “live happily ever after”. However, the reality for royalty has never been one of security as there are multiple risks. The same is true of divine placement. As we see in the case of Esther, God gave her the assets and the favor to become queen, but the role came with very real dangers as well. In order for her to expose the plot to annihilate the Jews in an attempt to save her people, she must speak to the king, yet, to do so without his invitation could cause her to lose her life. In light of this very real threat, Esther experiences uncertainty, fear, and anxiety. It is in this mindset that she must choose to fulfill the role that God has given her or to hope that someone else will bear the risk and expose the plot.
“Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.” Esther 4:16
Just as God provided Esther with placement, beauty, grace, and favor, He also provided her with the necessary character, godliness and wisdom required to carry out her role. Understanding the risks and her tenuous circumstances, she first made a plea to the Jews for fasting and prayer while doing the same herself as she recognized that her role was God ordained and most certainly require His assistance. When God blessed her with the king’s favor once again, she didn’t just blurt out the problem, but carefully chose her timing to present her concerns and requests to the king. In Esther’s service to her God and her people, she recognized the need for divine assistance, discernment and patience. As a result, the plot was exposed, Haman was punished and the Jews were permitted to defend themselves.
Thus the Jews undertook what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to destroy them and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to disturb them and destroy them. But when it came to the king’s attention, he commanded by letter that his wicked scheme which he had devised against the Jews, should return on his own head and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. Esther 9:23-25
Esther, having fulfilled her role in God’s protection of the Israelites, was permitted to witness the successful defeat of those who would harm the Jewish people. Further, as faithful servants, God placed both Esther and Mordecai in positions of influence so that His people could provide godly council in the government Persia and Media just as He did with Daniel and others before them.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. Ephesians 2:10
The story of Esther is full of plots and subplots and is, therefore, is a good example of how God creates us, equips us, and places us to fulfill His purposes with the greatest detail in both pleasant and perilous roles. The same God that created Able created Cain; the same God that created Esther and Mordecai created Haman; and the same God that created Mary and the apostles created Judas Iscariot to accomplish His perfect plans.
The same is true for us. Each of us was created with purpose by our Creator for specific roles and is divinely placed to fulfill those tasks. However, to accomplish those tasks we must wholehearted draw near to God, seek His counsel and have the godly character to graciously accept the roles that He calls us to despite the hardships or risks involved. As we complete our tasks we must not be hasty or self-assured, but rather continue to seek God’s counsel, trust His sustaining grace, be discerning and deliberate in our actions. Finally, when the task is completed, we give God all of the glory.