Such a Time as This: Lessons from the Queen

Today, we're going to journey through the book of Esther. The Book of Esther is a story where the name of God is never mentioned, yet the hand of God and His fingerprints are everywhere on every page. While the scheme's enemy moved in the shadows through Haman, God was quietly and intentionally orchestrating His plan through ordinary people placed in extraordinary positions.
 
Esther—an orphan, an outsider, and a young woman with no royal pedigree—was divinely positioned in the palace for such a time as this. Her journey teaches us that God prepares His people for difficult assignments and that He is always at work, even when we cannot see Him, hear Him, or feel Him.

A bit of background and context:

Esther is married to King Xerxes, the king of Persia. One of the king’s officials, Haman, becomes enraged when Esther’s cousin Mordecai refuses to bow to him. In his anger, Haman devises a plan and persuades the king to issue a decree calling for the destruction of all the Jewish people.

While Esther remains safely inside the palace, Mordecai brings her the devastating news. He challenges her with a powerful question—“Perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” He urges her to step into the risk, to use her position to intercede for her people.

Esther responds in obedience—but not recklessly. She calls for three days of fasting and prayer, asking the Jewish people to seek God with her before she approaches the king, knowing that doing so could cost her life.

There are many lessons we can learn from the Book of Esther, but today we will focus on three key truths and lessons learned from Esther’s defining moment in Esther 4:12–17, when she steps fully into her God-given purpose with courage, faith, and conviction.

Esther 4:12-17
When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.

Mordecai sends word to Esther with urgency. In vs 5 Esther calls for Hathak, one of the king's eunuchs whom he had appointed to attend her - Hathak was a Crucial Critical Communicator (trusted, faithful, truthful, and intentional confidant).
 

• Crucial Critical Communicators 
  • Operate with the Word of God purely as their filter. They don’t sow seeds of discord, spread suspicion of offense, or use gossip as an avenue to pray for you. 
  • They speak life, peace, truth, and only the Word. They build you up and create a community of unity. 
  • Crucial communicators know this:
    • If God can trust YOUR mouth and YOUR words, He can trust you with HIS assignment.
• Ephesians 4:29 says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”  
  • Your words are not always just for YOU!  

When Mordecai tells Esther what is going on, he doesn’t flatter her or shield her from reality—he gives her truth that activates her calling. He speaks truth to her—truth that pierces through fear, comfort, and hesitation.

Mordecai says,
“Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

Sometimes one conversation can shift your faith to overcome your fear.

• Esther may have had favor, but she needed Mordecai’s wisdom and wise counsel.
  • This is a reminder that…
    • Even Queens need guidance, and even the favored need accountability.
    • Esther had influence but needed to walk with integrity.
    • Esther had a crown, but she needed conviction and covering.

 
God will place Mordecai’s in our lives—voices that call us higher, voices that remind us who we are and whose we are. Who are the wise Mordecai voices in your life?

Here’s the takeaway from this truth:
You can’t wear a crown on your head if you’re still carrying a chip on your shoulder.
To embrace purpose and calling, we must let go of fear, insecurity, offense, and excuses. Purpose requires Preparation. The Lord can’t trust you with His assignments and His next steps if you're harboring or holding on to bitterness, pride, or resentment.

Mordecai’s words ignite something in Esther. This conversation gave her the confidence to do hard things. And yes—we were created by God to do hard things and even impossible things.

Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me." ALL things include HARD things and IMPOSSIBLE things!

Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.”

Mordecai’s words, delivered through Hathak, needed to be heard and understood. They needed to be received with clarity and faith. They were the very words the Lord used to awaken the call on Esther’s life. After this conversation, the Lord gave Eather a plan.

• Before Esther acts, she prays. 

• Before she speaks, she fasts. 
• Before she moves, she surrenders.

She says in vs 16,
“Go, gather all the Jews who are in Susa… and fast for me.”

She knows the people had already been praying, but she calls for focused prayer—because the assignment requires direct favor AND focus.

John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease”

This is what was taking place during Eather’s 3 days of fasting and prayer. This is Surrender. During this time of prayer and fasting, God is revealing Himself to Esther.

You have to completely surrender to the Lord. Completely void of all of yourself and full of all of the Lord!

Esther understood something powerful:

• Divine assignments require divine preparation.
• When God communicates, there is no confusion. 
  • 1 Corinthians 14:33 Amplified “for God [who is the source of their prophesying] is not a God of confusion and disorder but of peace and order. As [is the practice] in all the churches of the saints (God’s people),

Even when we don’t see Him working, He is working. Even when we don’t feel Him, He is working.

The strategy the Lord gave to Esther was not manipulation—it was consecration, it was surrender!

• After three days of prayer and fasting, she does something courageous: She approaches the king uninvited, risking death.
• There will come moments in your walk with God where your obedience will feel risky. Where stepping into purpose requires stepping out of comfort. Where faith demands courage.
• But like Esther, prayer prepares you to walk in rooms that fear tells you to avoid. The Lord will give you favor to walk into rooms that the world tells you weren’t built for you, but in fact God created those rooms for you to boldly walk into as he affirms and awakens your calling.
• We need to remind the enemy that he can't break something he didn't build.

After Esther prays, after Esther fasts, after Esther surrenders, Esther boldly steps into her assignment with one of the most courageous statements in Scripture:

The last part of vs 16 says “I will go to the king… and if I perish, I perish.” - Perish means to die. Purpose always requires movement. There comes a moment where Esther must move.

This is more than courage—This is commitment to the call and is a consecrated conviction. This is a woman stepping fully into the calling God placed on her life. This is not a statement of despair or a nonchalant reaction; it is a declaration of absolute trust in God. Her obedience becomes the turning point in this chapter and in this story. Esther’s words mattered and carried weight for Mordecai and the Jewish people who came together.

One woman’s commitment to the call changed everything.

• Your “yes” to God still has that kind of power.
• Your obedience can break generational cycles.
• Your faith can open doors for others.
• Your surrender can shift atmospheres.
• Your courage can change future outcomes.

Matthew 5:37 “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’

Here are 3 things your commitment to the Lord can do.

Esther understood the law:
No one—not even the queen—can approach the king without being summoned. The penalty is death unless the king calls for you.

So when Esther says, “If I perish, I perish,” she is acknowledging that obedience may come with a cost. Obedience demands sacrifice.

Sometimes your obedience will cost you:

• Relationships
• Your Comfort zone 
• Reputation
• Control
• Your job
• Familiar environments

 
But obedience to God is always worth the cost.

• Purpose requires a price. 
• Calling requires courage.
• Destiny requires dying to self.
  • Paul encourages us with this in 1 Corinthians 15:31 

In vs 16, Esther says, “Fast for me… I will go,” the people had to rise up with her. They didn’t question the request; they, too, were obedient and knew the commitment to the call. It sparked a boldness in them that may not have been there before.

Esther’s decision:

• Awakens a nation
• Strengthens a discouraged people
• Unifies a community
• Breaks the spirit of fear

Your commitment always impacts more than just you. Your step of faith may be the very thing that unlocks strength in someone else.

• Someone is watching your walk. 
• Someone is waiting for your YES!!

When a leader commits to the call, others find the courage to follow. When a believer commits, others find faith to stand.

Revelation 12:11 ESV “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”

As mentioned before, the Book of Esther never mentions the name of God—yet Esther acts as though He is standing right beside her, BECAUSE He was. He was in the palace with Esther and at the Gate with Mordecai.

This is faith at its purest:

• Esther commits to the call without visible reassurance. She steps forward without audible confirmation, and she obeys even when God seems silent.
• Esther’s moment of commitment becomes the moment heaven moves.
• It wasn’t until Esther said YES that God began unraveling Haman’s plans.

 
Her YES:

• Shifted the king’s heart
• Exposed the enemy
• Reversed the decree
• Elevated Mordecai
• Preserved a nation

One yes in the hands of our powerful God can change everything.

Here’s the truth: God will not force you to commit to Him—He invites you. It's a beautiful invitation.  

Esther teaches us that God does His best work behind the scenes. And sometimes, the greatest expression of faith is the willingness to say: Lord, even when I don’t see it or feel it,

I KNOW YOU ARE WORKING!

Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
 
God positions His people on purpose and for his purpose.

• Like Esther, you are not where you are by accident. You are there for such a time as this. 

 When God gives a great assignment

• He gives great preparation, great grace, great strategy, and ultimately, He gives great victory!!!
• Your Heavenly Father is fighting for you and advocating on your behalf!

Don’t Forget:
 
Psalms 103:1-5 “Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”