Devotion - Monday, October 4

The cycle of readings I follow has me reading through Esther. Esther is a marvelous book, part of the Old Testament collection referred to as Wisdom Literature. It was also the subject of a recent conversation between myself and a student who thought he could stump me with a question.

Esther, a Jew, is selected by the King to be his Queen. But don’t think of Queen Elizabeth; this queen has no power or stature – even in the King’s house. She cannot approach him or his rooms without an invitation.

Esther has an uncle, Mordecai, who becomes aware of a plot by one of the King’s administrators to destroy all the Jews. Mordecai comes to Esther, to ask her help. When she responds, “What can I do?” Mordecai reminds her, “Who knows, perhaps you have come to the kingdom for a time such as this.”

Even though Esther has not been invited into the King’s presence for the past 30 days, she decides to risk her own life by seeking an invitation to his court.

“Who knows, perhaps you have come to the kingdom for a time such as this.” Esther is challenged to see herself as the one person able to make a difference. Esther is encouraged to think of what she might do and to understand that her actions might be the most crucial of all.

How differently we would go about our tasks if we shared Esther’s perspective. How often would we stop to do the right thing, the helpful thing – rather than passing the moment by and thinking that someone else will take care of it. “Perhaps you have come to kingdom for a time such as this.”

Here was the attempt at stumping me – Esther is the only book in the Bible which does not include God’s name. God is present in all that happens, but remains unnamed. I remembered this from my earlier readings of this book. It reminds me that the work God calls upon us to do is not always carried out in the place where God’s name rolls easily off our tongues (church.) Quite often, our time to serve the kingdom happens in the places which are thoroughly secular.

Who knows….