27 Sep “4:14” Moments

The book of Esther may be one of the most misunderstood and sanitized books of the Bible. The story is a Sunday school staple: Xerxes, King of the Persian Empire, is angered by his wife’s disobedience and holds a “beauty pageant” to find a new queen. Many scholars believe the “contestants” were girls who could have been as young as 12-14 years old, and the “auditions” with the king were private and almost certainly were not appropriate to discuss with young audiences. Some biblical commentators say what happened in Persia is what we would call sex trafficking today. Much of “Esther” is for mature audiences only. There is, however, one moment that all ages can benefit from learning about. It is also often misunderstood.

Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, learns of a plan by the evil Haman to eradicate the Jews in Persia. In Chapter 4, Mordecai informs Esther of the plot and urges her to inform the king. Esther informs him that appearing before the king without being invited could draw the death penalty, even for the queen. That’s when we see what I call “the 4:14 moment.”

¹² When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, ¹³ he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. ¹⁴ For 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 4:12-14 (NIV)

Esther then heroically responds with:

¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”  Esther 4:15 (NIV)

Esther does go to the king and ultimately the Jews in Persia are saved. I think a mistake we make is that we think there will be only one “4:14” moment in our lives, that it will be big and spectacular, and we wait for it thinking we will know it when we see it. What if every moment of our lives has the potential to be an Esther 4:14 moment?

If we look around, we can find countless moments every day where God is giving us opportunities to step in to help someone or to step up and stand up for someone. It can be as big as assisting someone in extreme need, or as small as yielding to someone trying to make a left turn in traffic when no one else will.

God had our lives all planned out before He created everything we know. If you’ve given your life to Him, you can be sure that plan includes daily opportunities to take advantage of a position he has put you in for “such a time as this.” Begin looking for “4:14” moments tomorrow and you will be amazed at how blessed you will feel!

Pastor Jerry Bader