Most people don’t wake up feeling like the hero of a biblical epic. Most days, let’s be honest, we feel more like background extras in someone else’s story. The alarm goes off, the coffee brews, and we wonder if any of it really matters. But what if “such a time as this” isn’t just a line from an ancient story, but a challenge written to each of us, right now?

The story of Esther is one of those wild, improbable tales that somehow feels both ancient and weirdly current. Here’s a young woman, orphaned and exiled, suddenly swept into a palace and crowned queen—not because she chased power, but because the world outside is falling apart. Esther’s story should have ended quietly, but it doesn’t. Instead, her uncle Mordecai delivers that famous line: “Who knows if you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

But Esther’s purpose wasn’t handed to her on a silver platter. When the threat came—the possibility that her entire people would be wiped out—she faced a brutal choice. Esther knew the law: if she entered her husband the king’s room without being called for, she could be killed on the spot. The stakes weren’t just high, they were life-or-death. Still, she stepped forward. She put her purpose above her comfort, above her safety, because she understood that if she didn’t speak up, her whole race could vanish. She risked everything, not because she was fearless, but because she knew what was at stake.

Let’s pause on these words from Esther herself, as she made her decision:
> “I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
(Esther 4:16)

That’s not blind bravado. That’s someone stepping into the unknown, aware of the cost but unwilling to let fear write the ending. Esther didn’t know how her story would turn out, but she knew she had to act.

So what about us? Most of us aren’t royalty. We don’t wake up facing decisions that will change the fate of a nation (thankfully). But the story of Esther isn’t really about palaces or crowns. It’s about knowing that your life is on purpose, even when it doesn’t make sense.

It’s easy to believe our moments don’t matter, that we’re just passing time. But what if you’re here, in this city, in this job, in this family, for a reason? What if you’re exactly where you need to be, with exactly the experience and perspective you have, because there’s something only you can do?

Purpose isn’t always obvious. Sometimes it looks like speaking up, or standing firm, or simply showing up for someone at the right moment. Sometimes it’s risking your comfort for a greater good. Esther didn’t know how her story would end. She simply chose courage, knowing that her presence—her voice—might be the difference.

Conclusion

Esther’s story reminds us that purpose often comes wrapped in risk and uncertainty. She was an outsider, an orphan, a woman in a world where women weren’t supposed to have power. Yet, when her people were threatened, she chose to act—knowing she could lose everything, including her life. She entered the king’s room uninvited, risking death, because she knew silence would cost even more. Her courage saved her people and changed the course of history.

We may not face royal courts or national crises, but the facts of our lives—the challenges, the opportunities, the moments that ask more of us than we think we can give—are no less real. Whatever our circumstances, we are each born for a purpose. The question is whether we’ll recognize it, and what we’ll do when our moment comes.

You don’t need a crown to have purpose. You just need the guts to believe you’re here for a reason—and the courage to act like it, even when it’s hard, even when the outcome is uncertain. Like Esther, your life may be the answer to someone else’s desperate prayer. Maybe you are exactly where you are, right now, for such a time as this.Ope