SUCH.A.TIME

I COULD HAVE JUST AS EASILY BEEN BORN IN UGANDA, RUNNING FROM REBELS AS A TOT. BUT GOD CHOSE DIFFERENTLY. GOD:

DETERMINED THE TIMES SET FOR [MEN] AND THE EXACT PLACES WHERE THEY SHOULD LIVE. GOD DID THIS SO THAT MEN WOULD SEEK HIM AND PERHAPS REACH OUT FOR HIM AND FIND HIM, THOUGH HE IS NOT FAR FROM EACH ONE OF US -ACTS 17:26-27

GOD HAS A REASON FOR PLACING ME EXACTLY WHEN AND WHERE HE DID. IT MIGHT SEEM PRETTY RANDOM, BUT IT WAS NOT.

NOT ONLY THAT, GOD ALSO PREPARED PARTICULAR GOOD WORKS FOR ME:

WE ARE GOD'S WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS TO DO GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD PREPARED IN ADVANCE FOR US TO DO -EPHESIANS 2:10

GOD HAS BEEN PLANNING AND PLANNING...PLACING ME JUST SO, GIVING ME EXACTLY WHAT HE HAS, THAT I MIGHT FIND HIM AND THAT I MIGHT DO THE GOOD HE HAS PREPARED IN ADVANCE FOR ME. WHAT EXACTLY THAT IS, I'M NOT SURE YET. BUT I'M CONVINCED THAT'S SOMETHING.

I THINK OF ESTHER IN THE BIBLE. SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL AND CHARMING AND BECAME A QUEEN BECAUSE OF THOSE QUALITIES. SHE MIGHT HAVE LAIN BACK, EATEN GRAPES, AND GOTTEN SHOULDER RUBS EVERY DAY. I'D LIKE THAT. BUT ESTHER CHOSE TO BELIEVE HER UNCLE WHEN HE SAID:

WHO KNOWS BUT THAT YOU HAVE COME TO ROYAL POSITION FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS? -ESTHER 4:14

"SUCH A TIME AS THIS." ESTHER'S HUSBAND, KIND XERXES, HAD ORDERED A GENOCIDE OF THE JEWS. ESTHER COULD HAVE CHOSEN TO SHUT OUT THE TROUBLES OF THE WORLD, STAY QUIETLY AT HOME, AND ENJOY HER VERY PLEASANT LIFE. INSTEAD, SHE USED HER POSITION OF POWER TO SPEAK UP FOR THE OPPRESSED, RISKING NOT ONLY HER COMFORT, BUT HER OWN LIFE.

COULD IT BE THAT GOD HAS PLACED ME IN A POSITION OF COMFORT AND MATERIAL POWER FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS? A LACK OF CLEAN WATER IS KILLING ALMOST 2 MILLION PEOPLE A YEAR, 15.2 MILLION CHILDREN HAVE LOST ONE OR BOTH PARENTS TO AIDS, 1 BILLION PEOPLE LIVE IN EXTREME POVERTY, AND 1 MILLION CHILDREN ARE TRAFFICKED INTO EXPLOITIVE LABOR EACH YEAR. IF EVER THERE WAS "SUCH A TIME"--A TIME THAT NEEDS GOD'S REDEMPTION, HEALING, AND LOVE--THIS IS IT.

I'M DEFINITELY NOT A SAVIOR OF THE WORLD. ESTHER 4:14 SAYS,

IF YOU REMAIN SILENT AT THIS TIME, RELIEF AND DELIVERANCE...WILL ARISE FROM ANOTHER PLACE

THAT'S A RELIEF--BECAUSE IT'S NOT ABOUT ME. IT SEEMS GOD IS ON THE MOVE, ALWAYS ON THE MOVE, ALWAYS ON THE MOVE, READY TO RAISE UP RELIEF AND DELIVERANCE, PEOPLE WHO WILL GO FOR HIM, WHO WILL BE HIS HANDS. AND MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, I AM A PART OF THAT PLAN. MAYBE GOD HAS GIVEN ME WHAT HE HAS AND PUT ME WHERE HE HAS FOR JUST A TIME AS THIS.
[TAKEN FROM 'HOPE LIVES' BY AMBER VAN SCHOONEVELD]