A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

                                     BORN FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS PART XIV

"I, Esther, received another message from my cousin Mordecai.... It was not what I expected.... I expected a message full of sympathy for me.... A message in which he he told me he understood my predicament... And he was not going to pressure me any longer to see my husband, the king, since seeing him might even be the cause of my death....But that was not the message he wrote.... On the contrary, he once again told me to go before my husband, the king, to plead for mercy for my people.... In fact, his message was even stronger than before.... And he ended his message by writing he believed the reason for me becoming queen might well be so that I could save my people.... I had not thought of that... Perhaps he is right.... Perhaps I have come to royal position for such a time as this.".... Please read the typed out attachment when you will learn that Ester's cousin Mordecai challenges her to take up her task as queen for which she may have been born....


               
                    ATTACHMENT A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

                                   BORN FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS PART XIV

After reading her cousin Mordecai's latest message to her Ester begins to grasp the reason why God is allowing her to live at the palace... She is not there so she can enjoy a luxurious lifestyle. No, God is allowing her to live at the palace in order for her to plead for her people, the Jews, before the king even if that means she will die as you can read in Esther 4:15-16

Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai, "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 maids 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 knows that her life is really in God's hands and not in the king's hands. Since God has allowed her to live in the palace, He is the One who will protect her as she goes before the king without his permission. However, she knows she needs to spend time in preparation first and so arranges a three-day period of prayer and fasting before going to see the king.