Esther 4:14 (NKJV) 14 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?”
(This week we had the privilege of hosting Pastors Tony and Kathy Peaks as our guest speakers during our 26th church anniversary celebration. They both brought wonderful messages of confirmation concerning the favor of the Lord being upon us as individuals and a church. Here are some thoughts about what they had to share. The messages are available at www.livingwordgreene.com on the media page.)
I believe God spoke to me at the beginning of 2013 that this was a year of favor for the people of God. During the course of the year, we have looked at many things about favor. We found that the favor we are talking about is a move of God by which he causes people and circumstances to work for us that would normally not do so. One definition of favor was preferential treatment.
We have also studied many things that draw favor to our lives. We learned that the right choices draw favor while the wrong choices keep God from bringing favor to us. We learned that favor flows to spiritual strength. We learned that favor flows to integrity and honor. We recently learned that favor flows to a good foundation and a stable life. Today I want to ask a question. Why does God bring us favor? Is it just for our blessing? I believe that is part of the reason but not all of it by a long shot.
We came to this study of favor because the Lord has had me on a journey for the last three years. That journey follows the children of Israel as they go from slavery and bondage in Egypt to freedom and destiny in Canaan. As we began 2013, the Lord led me to the story of the Hebrew women who were instructed by God to go to their Egyptian counterparts and ask for gold, silver and clothing. The Egyptians complied with this request because of the favor God gave the Hebrew women.
The important thing to remember is that Israel was going to Canaan for a purpose. God wanted to bless his children and he gave them wealth for that purpose but also for a greater purpose. They were going to Canaan so that the Messiah could be born there. The ultimate purpose for God’s favor upon them was so that the world could be saved by the birth of Jesus Christ. God’s purpose has not changed.
The Messiah has come to the earth. Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the land of Canaan. That part has already been accomplished. However, God still gives his people favor for the same basic reason. He gave Israel favor so that the world could be saved by the birth of the Messiah in the right place and at the right time. Our favor comes to us so we can show Jesus to those around us in order that they receive him and the world, one person at a time, can be saved.
The book of Esther contains the story of a person who received favor. She was a young Hebrew girl who was living in captivity in the Persian Empire. There was a feast given by the king and his queen, a woman named Vashti, refused to appear before him. As a result, this queen fell out of favor and the king decided to replace her. He initiated a search for a beautiful woman to take her place. Through many circumstances, the Hebrew girl Esther was chosen to replace the Queen.
At the same time, there is a man by the name of Haman who hates the Jews. He was promoted to a position of honor by the king but the Hebrew Mordecai would not bow to him because of his belief in the one true God. Haman went to the king and convinced him to sign a decree that would condemn all the Jews in Persia to death.
When Mordecai heard of this he went to his niece, Esther, who was the virgin girl chosen to replace Queen Vashti. God had given her favor with the King. It was not known to the king that she was also a Jew. When the king had seen her, his heart was smitten and she became his wife. Mordecai comes to her and speaks these famous words to her. “Who knows if you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Esther had received a wonderful blessing of favor from God. Of all the woman in the kingdom, she was chosen to become the queen. The king had many wives, but Esther was favored above them all. Mordecai reasons with her that it was not only so God could bless her that this favor came into her life. It was so that God’s people could be saved.
He reminds her that if all the Jews are killed she and her family will not escape. He tells her that God gave her this position at this particular time so that she would be in place to act on behalf of her people. Favor did not come to Esther to protect her from the trouble of her day. Favor come to Esther so she would be in position to do something about the trouble of her day.
There is a problem. The queen can only come to the king when he calls for her. She can only speak in the assembly if the king points his scepter at her and grants her permission. This is not something she can do in her “bedchamber” as it were. This issue must be presented publicly so Haman can be discredited. In order for Esther to save her people she must risk her own life. The king has just had one queen removed for displeasing him. If she goes against his law, she could be killed. There are plenty of virgins left in Persia. We read her response in verse 16.
Esther 4:16 (NKJV) 16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!”
Esther accepts the responsibility of favor. She asks that the people pray for her, but she decides that if standing up for what is right means her death, so be it. The story is long and dramatic. To make it shorter, she goes to the king and requests to be allowed to speak. In the dramatic moment, we wonder if the king will demand that she be taken and put to death or point his golden scepter at her and grant her the right to speak. He does the latter, she speaks and the people of God are saved by her courage.
God wants to give you favor. He wants to promote you in your job. He wants to cause things to work out on your behalf. He wants to bless you emotionally, physically and financially. He is your Father and he loves you. However, favor carries with it responsibility. God expects us to use his favor to save the people around us. He expects us to tell them that the favor they see in our lives is available to them as well. He wants us to use our favor as a forum to introduce them to the Jesus who produces this favor in our lives.
Look around you. There are people that are perishing. Ultimately, they will slip into eternity without knowing that Jesus died for their sins. The greatest favor that comes to you is the grace of God in salvation. We need to tell them about God’s grace. When God blesses us in the midst of difficult times, we need to use that blessing to extend God’s favor to those around us. You were born for such a time as this. God is going to cause favor to come to you for such a time as this.
With favor will come great blessing. With favor will also come the responsibility to share the source of that favor with others. Be like Esther. Do not let fear keep you from fulfilling the responsibility that comes with favor. Stand before the “god of this world” and declare the goodness of God. Two things will happen. You will see people rescued because of God’s favor and your obedience. You will also see favor increase in your life because you use it as God intended.
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