Such A Time As This

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish.  And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14)

 It was a cold rainy day today, and us teachers sat down below in a classroom huddled in a close circle for our first devotion together.  Enma, a missionary from Guatemala City who teaches the Bible at the school, led us in this verse from Esther.  At this point in the story, Esther the Jew had become queen over 127 provinces.  The Jews were in exile and the King's right hand man Haman had written an edict that on a certain day, all the people of the provinces were to destroy, kill, and annihilate every single Jew.  Esther's Uncle discovers the plot and tells her.  Esther at first is hesitant to do anything becuase to go into the inner court without being called by the King could mean her death.  Mordecai then delivers this line.

Enma then challenged us teachers in our context.  Who knows whether you have not come to teach at Colegio HOREB, in the year 2013, for just such a time as this?  We have been put in a position to lead these specific children in the right direction.  If we do not obey, help will come from another place.  But God has placed us there to fulfill His purposes.

The fifth grade teacher, Marvin, told of students he had talked with who don't experience love in their home.  They come from spiritually impoverished families.  It is at HOREB that they first experience God's love and seek to follow Jesus.  Enma emphasized that every single child has God given intelligence.  But some are not motivated.  Some can not concentrate well because they are hungry.  Others lack confidence.  Who knows whether you have not come to this place for such a time as this?

I think about my role, and WIND's role, in the community of Cotzal.  I am close to moving in to a house near the center of the village.  God has provided me with a tremendous support system.  So many people are rallying around this tiny school in the middle of nowhere.  I think about the peopl, the teachers, and the children God has placed before me.  I think about the needs, both spiritually and materially.  Who knows whether we have not come to this place for such a time as this?

I hope by sharing this, that a few of you will also think about the position God has put you in, the responsibilities he has placed in your hands, the people you have an influence over in your daily life, and be challenged.  Who knows whether you have not come to that positon for such a time as this?

And Esther replied to Mordecai: Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.