“Who knows?  Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.”  (Esther 4:14)  These words, spoken by Mordecai to Esther, are probably the most familiar in this little Cinderella story tucked into the Old Testament.  According to her uncle Mordecai, perhaps Esther has an appointment with destiny.

Esther gets chosen to be the Queen by King Ahasuerus in an ancient version of The Bachelor.  Her beauty charms the king, who selects her from all the lovely contestants in his harem.  Her identity as a Jew is kept hidden, but when a plot is hatched to extinguish the Jewish people, Esther (at Mordecai’s urging) steps up and uses her wits and wiles to save her people and vanquish the enemy of the Jewish people.

It’s a straightforward story, but with plenty of suspense and treachery.  It’s one of the few biblical books that you could call a ‘page-turner.’   (It’s just about 10 pages long in my Bible, so it can easily be read in one sitting.  If you want to give it a whirl, here’s a link.)

Esther stands out for something else; it is the only book of the Bible that does not include the word “God.”  Not only is God not named, God doesn’t even act.  God is not pulling the strings or arranging the circumstances according to the narrative.  God is not giving wisdom or providing guidance in dreams and visions.  God is off-stage.^*

Esther, in other words, lives like us.  She and Mordecai receive no special insight.  No one stands back to see the ‘mighty hand and outstretched arm of God.’  No seas are parted, no pillars of fire lead them in the night.  They act on their own.  With their own wisdom.  With their own moral insight.

With their own fear.  With their own doubt.

“Perhaps,” Mordecai says, “you have come to royal dignity for such a time as this.”  But really, as he admits, “Who knows?”

We have no certainty that our contemplated actions are the right ones.  We have only our wisdom guided by our moral and spiritual sense.  Our decisions may “feel right,” but we are unlikely to have the confidence of one who has heard from a prophet: “thus says the Lord.”

But in our weakness and incomplete knowledge and our uncertainty we must act.  We must act as if we have come to this place to take our part in such a time as this.

Prayer:  Let the ‘perhaps’ keep me from arrogant over-confidence, but don’t let it prevent me from courageous living.  Amen.

^*If you would like to read a fascinating account of how the appearance and intervention of God diminishes over time in the Bible, I heartily recommend The Disappearance of God: A Divine Mystery, by Richard Elliot Friedman.  Friedman is a widely respected biblical scholar who writes in a way that any interested layperson can enjoy.