I am visiting my favorite coffee shop in town alone, perusing the nearby retail area that holds boutique clothing, books, accessories, and biblical resources. I’m enjoying my fresh, hot coffee slowly when I come across a coffee mug that captures my heart. One side of the mug reads, “The world needs who God made you to be,” and the other side paraphrases Esther 4:14: “Perhaps you were born for such a time as this.”
In this season of life, the demands and responsibilities of being a stay-at-home mom constantly pull at me, but this mug brought comfort and encouragement to my soul. Can you relate?
Queen Esther wasn’t born into royalty—the king chose her. At the time, she didn’t realize God’s divine plan. When word spread that the king planned to put all Jews to death, her cousin Mordecai encouraged her to speak to the king in hopes of sparing their lives. Unbeknownst to the king, Esther was a Jew herself. Her own safety and life was at stake.
She told Mordecai, “All the king’s officials and even the people in the provinces know that anyone who appears before the king in his inner court without being invited is doomed to die unless the king holds out his gold scepter. And the king has not called for me to come to him for thirty days.” (Esther 4:11 NLT)
But Mordecai responded, “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13–14 NLT)
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You Were Designed with Divine Intention
Most of my days are filled with completing the same old routine again and again. It’s easy to see each task as small and simple—unimportant in the grand scheme of things. I’m certainly not a queen, chosen to rule and save an entire population.
I am a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, homemaker, nutritionist—and the list could go on and on. And yes, I am all of those things, but also so much more. And so are you.
We are children of the Most High God.
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” (Psalm 139:13–16 NLT)
The God of the universe designed, created, and placed each one of us here for a special purpose. How amazing is that?
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The Lies That Dim Our Light
Unfortunately, we live in a world that wants to mold us into its ideal version of ourselves. We’re constantly fed lies that lead us to comparison, perfectionism, and the fear of not being enough.
The more we surround ourselves with gossip, media, and worldly things, the easier it is to believe these lies and take them on as our reality. We easily forget the truths rooted in Scripture—truths about who God says we are.
“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27 NLT)
I’m sure Esther also felt like an imposter—being a Jew herself but having the title of queen in a palace that threatened to kill her people. I’m sure she wondered why she was placed there, fearing for her own safety if her identity was revealed.
But with confidence in God and His divine plans, He spared her life and the lives of her people.
You don’t have to be anyone else. You are already enough.
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Embracing Who You Are in This Season
We all journey through various stages of life. Change is inevitable. It’s not always easy, but it’s always growing, shaping, and molding us in ways we may not see.
My day-to-day life looks totally different than it did a few years ago. Transitioning from one season to the next challenged me. It was difficult to leave behind what was and take on something new and exciting.
I still have dreams of going back to work, continuing to pursue my goal of becoming a registered dietitian, and I’m slowly taking steps to make that dream a reality. But I’m also striving to stay focused on the present season.
That’s where God has me, and that’s where I’m called to be in this moment in time.
I can choose to stay stuck in the past or embrace the here and now, because “perhaps I was born for such a time as this.”
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A Call to Courageous Action
I don’t know the season you find yourself in today, but we all can take one step toward “living as children of light.” (Ephesians 5:8)
Dare to step out of the world’s shadow and live the calling God has placed on your life.
Pause and consider:
• What parts of yourself have you hidden or doubted?
• What would it look like to live gently and boldly as the woman God created?
