Right time and right place

https://odb.org/2025/07/24/right-place-right-time

Esther 4:10–16 (NIV): 10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.” 12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 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. 14 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?”
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “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.”

Sometimes, God places us at a certain place at a certain time for a specific purpose. We may wonder why? It may not even be a pleasant place. For example, due to circumstances prevailing then, we had to leave our former workplace and ended up where we are now. We are thankful we found another job, but it is somewhat discouraging as it’s a lower grade position with less pay. Is there a specific reason that God had placed us there? Is it because the Lord wants us to reach out to a specific person? Or have more time to serve Him? Or perhaps God wants to humble us to deal with issues of pride in our lives?

In the case of Queen Esther, she was placed at the court of the King of Persia for a specific purpose. There was a plot by some people within the palace to annihilate the Jews and Queen Esther was at the right time and right place to expose the plot and appeal to the King on behalf of her people. The LORD had enabled Esther to be chosen as the Queen for a purpose. Similarly, Joseph became the Prime Minister of Egypt through an arduous journey for a specific purpose, which was to save the clan of Jacob of 71 from the coming great famine. It is from those people that the near 2 million strong Jewish slaves were rescued by Moses from Egypt 430 years later.

But there was a catch. Queen Esther has not been summoned to see the King for more than 30 days. If she goes to see him uninvited, she will be put to death if the King does not excuse her by extending to her the gold sceptre to spare her life. Sometimes, being at the right place at the right time by themselves may not be enough. We may be called to take certain risks. We may need to exercise our faith and move out in boldness. Then, the purpose is achieved.

We may question and wonder why we are at this place of work? We may even be asking why we are serving in this local church? Trust that God has a bigger purpose for us. Listen to His still small voice as He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. Pray and seek Him. Then, move out in boldness. Take the step of faith to do the things He has called us to do at the place or the church. We will thus know and confirm that His will is indeed good, pleasing, and perfect! Be at the right place at the right time!