Accepting our Role

I recently read the account of an actress who auditioned for a particular part in a play. Instead of getting the part she wanted, she was given another part that she was far less interested in. Despite her initial disappointment, she went on to talk about all the things she learned from accepting a role that she would have rather not had. What a helpful picture for thinking about our own lives. In God’s kingdom we have all been given different roles to play. And sometimes the role we find ourselves in may not have been the role we would have chosen.

The book of Esther is set in the backdrop of the Persian empire. Though some of the Jewish people have returned to the land of Israel, there are many still living in exile. Esther and her cousin Mordecai are two of these. Through an unusual turn of events, Esther, though Jewish, winds up being made queen by King Xerxes. Sometime after this, Mordecai discovers a plot being hatched to destroy the Jewish people, and he asks Esther to appeal to the king for help. She is hesitant, due to the inherent risk of approaching the king without being summoned. In response, Mordecai replies, “who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

In recognition of God’s providential plans, Mordecai reminds Esther that the Lord has seen fit for her to play a particular role at a particular time and place. It is not an easy role, nor one that is guaranteed success, but it is one that has been divinely arranged for her. God has placed her there to walk in the good works he prepared in advance for her to walk in. Where has God placed you in this season? What roles do you find yourself in? Wherever we find ourselves, we can trust that God has placed us there for a purpose, even if it’s a place or a circumstance we would not have chosen for ourselves.

Ben