Irreplaceable

“What’s more, who can say but that you have been elevated to the palace for just such a time as this?” ~Esther 4:14

God has a plan and purpose for each of us. He has us here for “such a time as this.” When we submit to his will, and allow his strength to work in us, he will accomplish great things through us. The mission he has for us may not look glamourous, or make us famous. It may seem daunting, impossible, and the challenges may seem insurmountable. If we look closely enough at the people in front of us, situations we face, and we have a living faith in the God who saves us, we will see his direction for us. So many of God’s people have faced impossible circumstances, yet God used them at that time to accomplish his great purpose. David, a small boy, facing Goliath and defeating him. Noah, building an ark for decades and walking in obedience to God. Esther, saving her people from certain death and risking death herself. John, serving as forerunner to Jesus, a loyal and loving servant who spread the Gospel.

“They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” ~Acts 14:22

Many of us want to run away from what we perceive as difficulty and a life that is less than easy.  Leaning on God’s strength, our character grows, God molds us and shapes us, and we learn more about who he is. We come to understand Jesus more through our service to God and through the challenges we face. Each of us, like God’s people in the Bible, have a valuable service to perform for him. God has placed what is before us so that with his direction we will act. “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die.” Esther 4:14    

For Esther, the people God placed right before her were the ones she needed to save and to act for. He put her right in the center of her mission for him. She could not keep quiet, the consequences were dire, and she had to act out of trust and faith in God to be with her. Instead of whining, running away, seeking distraction or an easier way, she stayed just where she was and fulfilled her purpose for such a time as this.  As Christians, how many of us are serving God by serving those right in front of us? Are we running away, seeking distraction, and undervaluing ourselves in the work God has for us? The enemy will seek to distract us however he can from the mission God has in front of us.

If God has placed being a mother on our path in this time, then that is our first mission, our calling from God. It may seem small and insignificant, the daily repetitive tasks, the training repeated over and over, but it is God’s work for us. We are irreplaceable in this role at this time and God will use our weaknesses to glorify himself. We don’t want to leave a mother-sized hole in our children’s hearts by withholding from them, being distracted with other “more important” missions while they sit on the sidelines, waiting for their hearts to fill with what only we are designed to fill. If Esther had not followed through with courage, someone else would have filled her role but her and her relatives would have died. Her role was pivotal and designed by God. We don’t want to “keep quiet” in our role for God. We should lean on his strength and wisdom and then live out our faith, by living out the mission of motherhood right in front of us. For we have been called to our own palace for such a time as this.

We are neglecting a holy, and pure calling from God when we neglect the mission of motherhood. When we believe the lies that surround us, that we are worth more elsewhere, that dollar signs attached to our name will make us worthy, or that other activities will fill us or make us feel valued and boost our “self esteem.” God has placed little ones in front of us to perform our mission wholeheartedly for him. Trusting in His wisdom, and not the worlds. Believing his promises, and standing on them confidently---not believing the world’s weak lies. If the great people of the Bible had lacked faith and courage, faltered in their strong faith in God, not believed in his promises, their great missions for God would have been neglected. As mothers, we also have a great mission, an irreplaceable one, and we are called to have faith and courage enough to fulfill it.

Esther was willing to give her life for her people. As mothers, we must be willing to give our lives for our children, to lay ‘self’ down every day, to risk pouring our whole hearts into our families for God.  He will not fail us, he is faithful and blesses our faithfulness to the mission he has put in front of us. God’s blessing may not come with immediate reward, or material wealth, but he guides us, strengthens us and gives us peace. We can rest in him and abide in him as we fulfill the mission he has placed before us.

“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” ~Acts 20:24

“I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.” ~Isaiah 46:11

“You are as much serving God in looking after your own children, training them up in God’s fear, minding the house, and making your house a church for God as you would be if you had been called to lead an army to battle for the Lord of hosts.” ~Charles Spurgeon