“If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to a royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14 (Esther’s uncle Mordecai is the one who gave her this message.)
Without Mordecai the story of Esther becomes a tragedy because Esther is so much like us. News comes about Haman’s plot to destroy the Jews and Esther feels bad about it and even wishes she could do something about it, but “any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned by the king has but one law: that he be put to death.” (Esther 4:11) Esther is saying in essence what many of us believe about ourselves: “I’m sorry that the world is going to hell, but circumstances are such that I can’t do anything about it right now. Wish I could, but I can’t.” Without Mordecai, Esther probably would have done nothing, wouldn’t have become a heroine, and most likely, there wouldn’t even be a book of Esther.
Think for a moment about the role of Mordecai. He’s the one who calls Esther to fulfill her God ordained destiny. He’s the one who encourages her to risk her life and promises to fast with her as she steps way out of her comfort zone. Because of his encouragement, she moves from an attitude of self-preservation to a willingness to lay her life down. The one who initially says, “I can’t,” now says I’ll try and “if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16)
We are called to be Mordecai to the people in our lives. We are to see their destinies and to speak into them. We’re to encourage them to take risks and to know that God loves them and will help them. We’re to pray and fast for others, so they will seize the day and not let their lives pass by with the regret of never doing anything heroic to help those around them.
One Thing 