I was reading in the book of Esther this morning (It is BEAUTIFUL outside, y’all! A great morning for some porch sitting!) and thinking about her story. Esther was already an orphan being raised by her uncle, (and historians say she was probably around 14 years old) when she 
was “chosen” to be moved to the palace. Her name was changed (her actual name was Hadassah), and she underwent beauty treatments for 12 months to prepare for one night with the king. All kinds of girls were chosen from the 127 provinces, and they all went through the same thing. Nobody asked them if they wanted to go, they were just PICKED and they went. After all that beautification, they were required to go spend the night with the king. After that, they were sent to the house of the concubines (which were like girlfriends, or mistresses) and they lived there, together, possibly NEVER seeing the king again, unless he specifically called for them by name. I don’t know about you, but that does NOT sound like a good time to me.
When Hadassah’s time with the king came about, the king fell in love with her and made her his queen. And while that sounds like good news, even then, you have to wonder what was going through her mind. Nobody knew about her Jewish heritage, and her predecessor had been banished and replaced for disobedience (Queen Vashti had refused to come when the king called for her). Even as Queen, she wasn’t allowed to come into the presence of the King, unless he called for her, without risking death. Hadassah must have been walking on eggshells and second-guessing herself at every turn. When Haman (the bad guy in this story – who, BTW would have NEVER been a problem to begin with, if King Saul had been obedient back in the day. But that’s a whole ‘nother story) decided that he wanted to have the Jews exterminated, Hadassah’s uncle Mordecai told her that it was her job to intervene for her people. “No pressure! It’s just the fate of the entire Jewish nation that is riding on how well you do this, Hadassah. We’ll all be killed if you don’t find favor for us with the king. But you know, just do your best, don’t stress.” Can you even imagine?
She was nervous when Mordecai told her what she needed to do. (Of course she was!) But then came a bigger dose of reality. Basically, Mordecai told her that if she didn’t intervene, if she stayed silent and thought that because she lived in the palace she would be safe, that God would 
save the Jews another way, but that she and her whole family would die. He told her that God had set her up to be in this position so that she could advocate for her people (Esther 4:12-14). Again, “No pressure, girlfriend. Just the lives of all the Jews in the kingdom at stake, that’s all. It’ll be FIIIINE.”
Have you ever felt like God was calling you to do something? He has a unique plan and purpose for each of us. Maybe He is asking you to do something small. (The Word says that if we are faithful in the small things, He gives us big things.) Or maybe, like Hadassah, it’s something big. At some point, God is going to require you to step out in faith and do something. When He does, JUST KEEP STEPPIN’ OUT! Who knows where that path will lead. It can be hard to see the hand of God in our lives as it is playing out, but, as they say, hindsight is 20/20. It is much easier to look back and see where He has intervened and how it turned out. Can you look back on your life and see how He has been faithful to you already?
The crux of the matter is this though, IF YOU DON’T HEED THE CALL, if you don’t follow through with what He is speaking to you, rest assured, you will NOT ruin His plans. He is the God of the Universe, He will find another way to fulfill His purposes. But what will you be missing out on?! What will you be cheating yourself out of? What if God has been setting you up for such a time as this? One of my favorite verses, Jeremiah 29:11, tells us that God has PLANS for us. Good plans. Hadassah, a teenage girl, became queen and had a huge hand in the deliverance of her entire nation. That was 2,500 years ago, and even today those events are celebrated annually by the Jewish people during the feast of Purim. What an impact!! What a plan!!
What is God asking you to do? What is His calling for you? What impact can you have?
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Esther 4:12-14 ESV And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
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