Born for this: Esther’s story speaks to Christians in politics

Christians who believe they should not be involved in politics — not even to participate by simply voting — need to read and reflect on the story of Esther from the Bible.

Esther rose from being a lowly nobody in the court of King Xerxes to influencing the entire Jewish nation. She humbly considered using the opportunity presented at an extremely critical, life-and-death moment not only for herself and her family but for every Jew alive in the kingdom.

Esther was one seemingly insignificant person, but her boldness in doing God’s will gave her great power.

From the life of Esther, we get the phrase, “born for such a time as this.” Esther’s cousin and guardian, Mordecai, reminded her of that fact when she came to a life-altering crossroad.

Esther saw herself not only as a Jew but as someone who had influence with the ruler of her country. As an individual, she had the opportunity — again, knowing that her attempt could lead to her execution — to “speak truth to power,” to approach the king with a vital request.

An evil man named Haman had twisted the truth about the Jews living in the land and had hatched a plan to turn King Xerxes against them. Certain annihilation awaited the Jewish people — unless someone put their own life on the line to save them.

Esther was one seemingly insignificant person, but her boldness in doing God’s will gave her great power.

And because she took a chance when the opportunity presented itself, not only did she save her own people, but she set in motion the turning of the tables on the evildoers of her day. The king was alerted to the true malevolence that had infested his kingdom sparked by the vindictive Haman — and he immediately set the situation aright. Haman and his wicked followers themselves suffered the deadly fate that Haman had prepared for the Jews.

Has evil not permeated our own land in our own day? And is there not an Esther around today to set the wheels in motion to save the God-fearing people of America?

Donald Trump, in his own inimitable way, has applied the phrase “born for such a time as this” to himself and has been accused by some of being arrogant. But all of us should be able to humbly state that fact. God himself has chosen to create us for the here and now and allowed us the freedom to either follow him or to go our own way.

We all know that one of God’s many holy attributes is that he does not make mistakes. So each and every one of us, like Esther, has been “born for such a time as this.” All of us, whether we follow the God of the Bible or not, has a unique opportunity where we are and for every day of our lives to make a difference.

God provides signs of his existence if we choose to keep our eyes open. He does exist, he does love us, and he is still involved in the affairs of men and women.

For Americans, we were born into a country established on the concept of rule by “We, the People.” We are not subject to a series of kings, good or bad. We have the power to vote into office representatives who carry out our needs and desires. And as Christians, we have “dual citizenship” — citizens both in heaven and on earth. Which means we are certainly part of the “we” in “We, the People.”

In our form of government, God has raised up all of us to freely govern ourselves. From the Declaration of Independence we learn that it is:

self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Applying Romans 13:1 to America, then:

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

America’s founders established a constitutional republic, not a democracy, and certainly not a pseudo-democracy controlled by elites of a deep state. “We, the People” are the governing authorities.

Therefore, each one of us needs to take our role seriously. And as followers of this amazing God, we need to become involved in what he is doing. We “make our plans,” and “God will direct our steps.”

Things certainly could have gone differently for Esther. After all, we are also told in Scripture that “the battle belongs to the Lord.” The Lord could have chosen to let the Jewish people suffer a terrible fate. But the prayers and actions of this one righteous woman turned out to be “powerful and effective.”

Surely, there are no guarantees. However, perhaps with even just a remnant of faithful Christians and Jews praying — and voting and campaigning and speaking out — we might witness the outcome of a nation Lincoln envisioned:

My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.

For our part, we should be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and make the most of this one life that God has given us, because we realize at this critical juncture in our nation’s history, “We were born for such a time as this.”

Editor’s note: A version of this article appeared previously at American Thinker.