Born for Such a Time as This

You are not here by accident. You were put here — on purpose, for a purpose.

“Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

— Esther 4:14 (ESV)

Have you ever thought about the time you were born into? I’m fascinated with time travel. I love thinking about what it would be like to live in a different time than the one I’m in. I think about what I would be like to live when my ancestors were moving across the colonizing “America” on horseback and in covered wagons. What was it like to ride in one of those on the bumpy unpaved roads and traveling from Massachusetts, Virginia, all the way down to the Carolinas and finally Georgia? 

While it’s fun to think about those things, I know I have to live in NOW.  Have you ever wondered why you were born in this time as opposed to a hundred or even a thousand years ago? There is a reason for it. God put special abilities into you just for this season of time. Those skills and abilities were created to reach a lost world full of lost people. 

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself — why this time? Why not a hundred years ago, or a thousand? Scripture tells us that God “determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place” (Acts 17:26). Your moment in history was chosen. He put gifts into you that are perfect for this exact season, this exact world, these exact people.

When I think about the amount of people I run across in my life that struggle to even know if God is real, it staggers my mind. I’m talking about people that I encounter even in my church! 

It’s so easy to take our belief in God for granted. It’s easy to think that there is no greater purpose in our lives than living our daily lives. 

Such A Time As This

But you were created for such a time as this. You were put here in this place to reach the people that are all around you right now. You may think that there is nothing you can do that would make a difference. But every drop of rain that falls waters a seed. Each drop plays a part in watering the earth. It takes each and every one to fill up an ocean. 

You may think that you are just a tiny drop, but you are part of an enormous ocean of drops all being poured out to cover the earth like a giant sea. “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).

And as for the time you live in, ask God to show you what your purpose is in this day. What gifts did he give you in this time to reach a lost and hungry world that is desperately searching for him. 

Scriptures for This Week

Esther 4:14 · ESV

“Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Acts 17:26–27 · NIV

“From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him.”

Ephesians 2:10 · NLT

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

Habakkuk 2:14 · NIV

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

1 Peter 2:9 · ESV

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

Devotional

Esther didn’t feel ready either. She was young. She was an outsider. She had every reason to stay in her own world. But God had put her in exactly the right place at exactly the right time — and she changed the fate of an entire people.

Your story may not involve a palace or a king, but the principle is the same. God has not put you here randomly. He has put you in your neighborhood, your workplace, your family, your circle of friends — intentionally. The gifts you have, the experiences you’ve lived, the way you see the world — all of it was made for this moment.

The enemy’s greatest lie is that you are ordinary, that you don’t matter, or that someone else will do it. But God has never worked that way. He uses willing, available, ordinary people — fishermen and tentmakers, shepherds and seamstresses — and through them He moves mountains.

Reflection

What gifts, or passions has God put in you that are unique to you? How are they ways to reaching others?

Is there someone in your life right now who is searching for something more? Ask God to show you how you can be a light in their world.

Have you ever asked God: “What is my purpose in this season?” Take a few minutes this week and ask God to show you. He will be more than happy to show you.

A Prayer for This Week

Lord, thank You for putting me here — in this time, in this place, with these people. Forgive me for the moments I have lived as though my life has no greater purpose than getting through the day. Open my eyes to see the people around me the way You see them. Show me the gifts You put in me for this season. Give me courage to use them. Let me be a drop of rain that waters a seed. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

— The Weekly Word