For such a time

On Sundays, Pastor Bryan has been walking us through the book of Esther. When you combine God’s timing with what I like to call “God-cidences” — those circumstances only God could have orchestrated — and add God doing what He does best, bending evil into good, you get the incredible story of Esther: an unlikely hero that nobody saw coming, whom God used to save an entire people from destruction!

 It’s a powerful reminder of what God has done — and is still doing — in and through us.

 And that got me thinking…

 What if God is calling us, right here in the midst of all the chaos and busyness, to be the unlikely heroes “for such a time as this?”

 How can we be ready to answer that call?

 How will we know when God is calling us?

 Then I was reminded: God has us exactly where He wants us to be, even when we don’t see it or believe it.

 How do I know?

 Because, as we’ve been learning from Esther, there is no situation in which God cannot — or does not — work!

 Sometimes it happens through His perfect timing.

 Sometimes it happens through those “God-cidences.”

 Sometimes it happens right in the middle of chaos and evil.

 And sometimes it happens through the planning and gathering of God’s people — like, say… a prayer gathering!

 We need to be ready and positioned to say “yes” when the time comes.

 Just as Esther trusted God, took a risk, and went before the king to plead on behalf of her people, we have the opportunity to do the same.

 When, you ask?

 This coming Wednesday, November 5th, at 6:30 PM in the Sanctuary.

 Come as you are — And be ready to encounter the one who loves us more than we can ask or imagine: the Great Physician, the Wonderful Counselor, the One who sets us free to be all we are called and created to be.

 The question is… will you?

 Remember Jesus’ words to those who were weary and burdened by the demands and chaos of life as He invited them to experience His Kingdom:

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

— Matthew 11:28-30

 My hope and prayer is that you will come and experience the kingdom life Jesus offers.

 And who knows?

 Maybe — just maybe — God is calling you “for such a time as this.”

 Grace and Peace,

 Pastor Justin Porter