01.16.09

Then Esther spoke to Hathach, and gave him a command for Mordecai: "All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days." So they told Mordecai Esther’s words. And 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 other 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?" - Esther 4:10-14.

Esther had won the royal beauty contest and had become the queen taking the place of Queen Vashti who had fallen into disfavor with King Ahasuerus. God’s purpose for Esther’s life was not just for her to be a queen. No, the evil Haman hated the Jews and especially Mordecai. Haman hatched a plan to cause the extermination of the Jews and the enrichment of himself in wealth and power. God’s purpose for Esther’s life was for her to intervene with the King to stop the fulfillment of Haman’s evil scheme. As Mordecai told Esther, "…who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" God knew and He used Esther to save her people.

Yesterday, in the "Miracle on the Hudson" God used Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III to save 150 people. As more than one person said, Sully was the right person in the right place at the right time. Sully had flown F4’s in the Air Force, has been an airline pilot for 29 years, is certified as a glider pilot, and had been studying crisis management. For all those years as a pilot very little of an extraordinary nature had occurred in Sully’s career. He had been a very competent pilot doing his job to the best of his ability for many years. Then, in a few short minutes of time all of his life experience was needed and used to save all of those lives.

God has so many of His servants who are living obscure lives and many who are living in obscure places doing less than exciting and fulfilling work. However, God knows exactly where all of His servants are, and what they are doing. He has a plan for each of our lives, and we should always seek to be the right person, in the right place at the right time for Him to use. You should always be sensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, alert to what is happening around you because God may suddenly intervene and need you to be the servant that He uses.

Seek and pray for the fulfillment of God’s will, plan and purpose in your life because only God knows "…whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this." It was Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III’s time yesterday. It may be your time today.