Who knows? Perhaps you have come for such a time as this.

Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” Esther 4:13-14

“Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy? A Republic, if you can keep it.” This famous quote was captured by Dr. James McHenry at the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 between Benjamin Franklin and Elizabeth Willing Powel. I dare say very few among the delegates would have envisioned the course this nation would take over the next centuries and decades.

Can we keep it? Each generation, including the current, has had to wrestle with this question. The question has forced us to look deep within ourselves and decide how we would respond. It is a question requiring an answer. It is a question asked of citizens as they struggle through a civil war, unite to fight wars against tyranny, live through economic depressions, face political turmoil, deal with cultural changes and seek to right social wrongs.  This 4^th of July allows us again to look, reflect and ask, “What will it take to keep it”?

The Bible is filled with stories of how God has used the seemingly weak and politically powerless to turn the tide of events. Queen Esther is one such story as she finds herself on a course of history in which she has little or no control. She is forced into a marriage with King Ahasuerus, dependent upon Mordecai for guidance, and is fearful and doubtful. That is until she realizes that God can use her to make a difference.

Esther had quickly learned the royal ropes of protocol and knew what was expected of her. She understood that death awaited her as she astutely said, “if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—all alike are to be put to death.” Mordecai who has wisely guided Esther through the years now realizes he has no answer. “Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.”

Most likely every generation has looked at their situation and thought all was lost. Yet in that moment of hopelessness, God used someone or an event to spark a spiritually awakened nation. “If we give up on God and on our nation, we will obviously be unavailable to either. Then our spiritual and cultural pessimism becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.” Dr. Jim Denison

“Do I underestimate the difference it could make if I brought my petitions to another, greater King—one who welcomes me without protocol? —Izwe Nkosi.

It was to that greater King that Esther approached. Queen Esther allowed God to use her in whatever way to save her people. It was not a role Esther felt comfortable playing, a role she didn’t ask to play and yet finally came to terms with what she could do. She would come to the place where she could boldly say, “if I perish, I perish.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, imprisoned and later executed understood the significant role that a Christian can play in world events. He wrote in Ethics, “Do and dare what is right, not swayed by the whim of the moment. Bravely take hold of the real, not dallying now with what might be. Not in the flight of ideas but only in action is freedom. Make up your mind and come out into the tempest of living. God’s command is enough and your faith in him to sustain you. Then at last freedom will welcome your spirit among great rejoicing.”

As we celebrate Independence Day this year, let me paraphrase Esther 4:13-14 for us to think about.  Do not think that in your church membership you will escape any more than all the other citizens. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the nation from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to faith for just such a time as this. Are we available and open to what God may need for us to do?

“The rulers of the earth plot and scheme, forgetting that their lives are but a vapor, a passing mist; while Your word abides, unchanging; Your purposes, unthwarted. May no one miss their moment to find You; praise You; walk with You. Blessed are all who are called to be citizens of Heaven.” –Ryan Smith and Dan Wilt

We celebrate American independence today with a mixture of excitement and yet concerns, a mixture of thankfulness and yet fears of the future, a mixture of celebration and yet humility and a mixture of pride and yet brokenness.

“Revival cannot be organized, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from heaven when God chooses to blow upon His people once again.” –G. Campbell Morgan

Who knows? Perhaps this is the time that we set our sails to catch the wind from heaven to make a difference in this nation.

Who knows? Perhaps you have come for such a time as this.

God is great!