Whether it’s a fan catching a home run baseball in the World Series or a parent catching her child as she falls off a swing set, so much of life is about being at the right place at the right time. Queen Esther seemed to be at the right place and the right time to save her people, the Jews. Would she risk her life to try?
Esther was a Jew living in the mighty Persian Empire, which stretched from the borders of India to the borders of Europe. She was the queen of Persia. Many years earlier, Jews had been exiled from their homeland of Israel and scattered throughout places that would eventually be engulfed by the Persian Empire. Esther had been chosen by the king of Persia as his new queen, but she was still only allowed to come into his presence if it pleased him to do so.
When wicked Haman, a high official in the Persian Empire, devised a plan to eradicate all Jews, Esther’s relative urged her to take advantage of her privileged position in the empire to save her people. At the risk of her life, she approached the king and invited him to a banquet, where she revealed Haman’s plot. The king executed Haman and saved the Jews by allowing them to defend themselves against those who tried to carry out Haman’s plan.
We’ll probably never be faced with saving God’s people from total eradication—but we all encounter situations where we are placed in the right place at the right time to do something for God. Whether it is giving part of a bonus to missions or spending a free evening helping out with a church youth group event, look for opportunities to make a lasting impact on God’s kingdom with the resources you have been given.