For Such a Time as This

Written by ​Fr. Dale Minor - The Reclaim Ministry

“Mordecai told them to answer Esther: ‘Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’"

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This passage from the Book of Esther speaks of a time when the King, Queen Esther’s husband, was being persuaded to destroy all the Jews of the province. The rules of the palace were so strict that even the Queen could not approach the King without invitation, under the penalty of death. Esther, a Jewess, had been asked by Mordecai, her cousin and a man who had earlier proven his loyalty to the king, to intercede with the King to save his people.To do this was quite risky for, yet Mordecai encouraged her to trust God and do what was right for her people; reminding her that she had been called “for just a time as this.”

We are now in a time when the people of our nation and of the world face an uncertain future. No, we are not greatly concerned that one political party or one ethnic group will annihilate another, (although rhetoric from some quarters approaches such thought.) but we are facing an enemy more feared in that it cannot be seen and no good weapon has been found to combat it. So we are on the defensive and have been instructed to separate ourselves from one another by staying home and avoid unnecessary traveling. And we are finding it difficult. So we are called to make sacrifices, we will have to suffer a little, some more than others; but we can do this, if we trust in the Lord. We can do this because He has prepared us for just a time as this.

St. Paul reminds us that Jesus came to earth in God’s perfect timing. Galatians 4:4-5; “But, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive adoption as sons.” -- “In the fullness of time” means in God’s good timing. It means, “for just a time as this.”

Everything that Jesus has done and continues to do is in God’s timing. And if it is in God’s timing, it is for our benefit.

Jesus called his disciples, including us, to follow Him, for just a time as this.
He healed the sick, the blind, the deaf and the lame for just a time as this.
He cast demons out of the possessed for just a time as this. He called us to follow his examples of love and mercy and kindness for just a time as this.
Jesus taught us how to pray and to be disciplined in fasting and meditation on God’s word for just a time as this.
He showed us how He had the power to forgive sins and taught us to forgive others for just a time as this.
He chose to suffer and die for our sins, and promised to send the Holy Spirit to us for just a time as this.
Jesus lived and died and walked among us to grant us eternal life, as well as to enable us to be prepared and strong for such a time as this.

Celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord this Sunday from wherever you are, in full knowledge and strength that the work Jesus did on the cross was for you and for such a time as this.