Esther 4:14

This week ends a turbulent year that has affected everyone. Personally, I know of no one that has not been affected by COVID in the last two years. It may be a loss of a loved one, or you may have contracted the virus which turned out to be severe and resulted in a hospital stay. COVID has hit each of us one way or another.

But by God’s grace, and whether you know it or not, we are not alive by chance. We are alive because of God’s mercy despite our unfaithfulness, arrogance, and rebellion. If you are reading these words, you are still breathing, and God is a merciful God. We should acknowledge our gratitude and say, “Thank you Lord for helping us through these tough times to see another year.”

There were people who left their homes searching for a better life only to reach their destination with a tragic end. While others lay down in their beds and never awakened. Too many people were a victim of violent attacks. We heard about it in the media, on our cellphones and the television. They reported the stories- all day, every day, all year long!

Stories of wicked men who plot and scheme against each other, seeking to destroy one another because they do not like something someone said. As if that was going to stop Satan from spreading more evil. We have gone from being sheep to predators. Hiding in dark corner’s lurking through the internet to see where to attack the next victim. “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather that light, because their deeds were evil.” John 3:19.

But to those of us who believe in God, who knows all things, we trust, and we wait patiently for Him to guide us through these murky waters. As the bible speaks of Esther, who when she discovered that there was a man in her husband’s counsel, Haman, that was so evil, he plotted to kill a whole nation of people, the Jews- her own people. Esther’s husband, the King, was the only person with the authority to stop Haman’s plan.

Esther was the one person that was the closest to the King, but she could not approach him haphazardly. To approach him at the wrong time would mean her immediate death. She was the Queen, but she had no power. Except God’s mercy was with her.

Her uncle, Mordecai, and her people were about to die, and Esther faced the task of asking the King to save their lives. She trusted that in the process, her own life would be spared- for her own husband, the King -did not know that she was a Jew. The King had the power to stop it all, but only if she made him aware of what was happening and how it would affect her as well. The story ends well, and you can read it for yourself in the book of Esther in the Bible.

Only Jesus, the Light of the world can destroy the wickedness of evil men and the darkness that they love. But it also requires us to intercede. That is our job, to pray. It could be that you and I have been saved for such a time as this. To stand in the gap for the people. Now is not the time for feasting, this is how we as Christians fight against the darkness, we pray. This is “The time for Prayer.”

Forget about singing “Auld Lang Syne” this New Year’s Eve and avail yourself to prayer and fasting. Who knows whether you have been saved for such a time as this?”