For Such a Time as This

Esther seemed like an unlikely hero. She was a Hebrew orphan who lived with her Uncle Mordecai.

Her people had been in captivity for over 100 years, and she was carried off against her will to the palace in Shushan, where she was placed in a house of women under the care of a eunuch named Hegai.

Esther certainly could have pouted and bemoaned her circumstances, but instead she retained a quiet and humble spirit. Rather than seeking her own will, she humbly submitted to God’s plans for her life.

Esther’s story would compare with any modern fairytale: A beautiful young Jewish girl torn from her homeland and taken as a captive to Persia; a tyrannical ruler who banished his queen from her royal position and initiated a search for her successor; and of course, an evil villain, Haman, who desired to perpetrate genocide against the Jews.

At a pivotal moment in the history of the Jewish people, Mordecai confronted Esther with these timeless words:

If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14 NIV).

Perhaps your life seems much less dramatic than Queen Esther’s—but it is significant in God’s sight nevertheless. Just as the Lord sovereignly orchestrated the circumstances to prepare Esther “for such a time as this,” so too He’s weaving together the strands of your life into a beautiful tapestry to reflect His glory.

Remember today that you can trust an unknown future to an all-knowing God. For the Jewish people and for every believer today, we can be confident of this: “He marked out their appointed times in history” (Acts 17:26 NIV).

God has placed you in this time in history. He has orchestrated your circumstances and experiences to prepare you to carry out His purposes. And now it’s your time to shine!

Even when some things don’t seem to make sense, God has a plan for your victory and success (Jeremiah 29:11). He has a happy ending in mind for YOUR story, just as He accomplished for Esther!

A Special Miracle Season

Although God has ordained happy endings for His people, that doesn’t mean our lives will always be easy. I hear from so many of our friends and Inspiration Partners who’ve experienced difficult seasons recently in their health, finances, families, or peace of mind.

However, God knows we all need breakthroughs in our lives from time to time. That’s why He has put special days and seasons on His calendar. This month we will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, one of His three “Appointed Times” each year to bless His people with supernatural blessings and miracles (see Exodus 23 and Leviticus 23).

Along with the feasts of Passover and Pentecost, Tabernacles is one of three “Holy Convocations”—special times of the year that we’re to celebrate FOREVER—“throughout your generations” (Leviticus 23:21). The Lord calls these special dates on the calendar “MY appointed times” (Leviticus 23:2), days meant to be set aside for HIM.

God says He wants to meet with us during these three Appointed Times—to receive our praise, our consecration, and our offerings. He promises that if we faithfully observe these special seasons, He will bless us, meet our needs, and intervene in the difficult circumstances of our lives.

A Time to Harvest

King Solomon reminds us of the importance of recognizing God’s special times and seasons:

For everything there is a season,
A time for every activity
under heaven…
A time to plant and a time to harvest (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2).

I believe that this verse contains a powerful message of encouragement from the Lord…

Just as you’ve faithfully obeyed God during your “time to plant,” you will experience great joy during this “time to harvest.”

You see, the celebration of these three feasts is a way to synchronize our lives with God’s cycle of Seedtime and Harvest. As we are faithful and obedient to bring our special offerings to Him during these feasts, God keeps His Word to bless our lives in supernatural ways during the next season. Just as the Israelites learned this rhythm of living in the covenant promises of God, we must learn it too!

In Due Season

Few things in life are more difficult than waiting for our Harvest. We live in a “microwave” society that expects quick and easy results, and sometimes we’re like that in our prayer life.

However, farmers know they must patiently wait for their season of harvest. If they’ve faithfully planted and watered their Seeds, it’s only a matter of time before their harvest comes:

…for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap…And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart (Galatians 6:7-9).

God has a “due season” for you—a time to Reap your Harvest of blessings. And I believe that season is at hand as we celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles this month.

So I encourage you to trust God today—with your life, your time, your resources, with everything. He has a plan to bless in in “such a time as this.”

Your partner to reach the Lost,

David Cerullo