Pay Attention to Your Circumstances

Scripture — Esther 4:13-17 (NRSV)

Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” Then Esther said in reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.” Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Devotion

In recent devotions, I’ve suggested that if you want to discern your purpose in the third third of life, you should pay attention to a variety of things. So far, I’ve encouraged you to:

Pay attention to what God is putting on your heart.

Pay attention to how God has made you.

Pay attention to your fruitfulness.

Pay attention to your relationship with God.

Pay attention to your generativity.

I’ve also recommended that you pay attention in community with others who know you well and can help you receive, clarify, craft, and live your purpose in life.

Today I’d like to add another “Pay attention.” This one is inspired by the story of Esther in the Old Testament book of Esther.

Esther was a young Jewish woman who, along with her adoptive father, Mordecai, lived in the Persian Empire. Because of her superior beauty, the Persian king chose her to be the queen. The king did not know that Esther was Jewish, however. In time, an advisor to the king hatched a plan to kill all the Jews in the Persian Empire. At first, the king approved. Given her unique position, Esther might have been able to get the king to change his mind. But if she approached the king without an invitation, she might lose her life instead. Coming before the king uninvited was a capital offense in the Persian Empire.

This summary sets the stage for today’s passage from the book of Esther. Through an intermediary, Esther told Mordecai that she had not seen the king for 30 days and therefore was unable to intercede on behalf of the Jewish people. Mordecai replied to her message in verse 13 of Esther 4:

“Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this” (4:13-14).

You may be familiar with that last sentence in the language of the King James Version: “And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

At this moment Esther discerned her purpose in this season of her life. She chose to risk everything by approaching the king in order to save her people. Her purpose was shaped by her circumstances, including her Jewishness, her being a subject of the Persian Empire, and her unique situation as the queen.

Notice that Esther was helped to understand her purpose by her father, who served as her community of purpose. When he said, “Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this,” Mordecai was seeing the circumstances of Esther’s life as evidence of divine providence. Though he did not mention God explicitly, Mordecai implied that God had determined the circumstances of Esther’s life, which illuminated her unique purpose. She alone was in a position to intercede with the king on behalf of her people.

Let me share an example of how our circumstances can help us discern our purpose. This comes from the life of a dear friend, Nancy. Her first career was in deaf education. Why? Because of the particular circumstances of her life, namely, the fact that her parents were deaf. Nancy had expertise in sign language and in the culture of the deaf community. Thus, after appropriate education, she was unusually well-suited to teaching and coaching deaf students for many years.

Later in her life, Nancy and her husband, Mike, had a daughter with Down Syndrome. As they cared for their daughter and helped her to thrive, they recognized a great need for support for deaf children and their families. So, Nancy, in partnership with Mike, founded Club 21, a “learning and resource center for individuals with Down Syndrome.” Club 21 does amazing work with hundreds of children—and now adults—with Down Syndrome, equipping and empowering them to live full and fruitful lives. You might say that, like Esther, Nancy had “come to the kingdom for such a time as this.”

Why did Nancy begin and lead Club 21? First, because of her circumstances. Her background in education, combined with her experience as a mother of a daughter with Down Syndrome, uniquely positioned her for Club 21 leadership. But I should add that Nancy’s decision to start Club 21 wasn’t made in isolation. Her husband Mike and those of us who know and love her helped Nancy to see how the work of Club 21 could be central to her purpose in life, as it has been for the past 16 years. All the “Pay attentions” I have discussed previously figured into Nancy’s decision to found Club 21. Paying attention to your circumstances is crucial, to be sure. But it does not stand alone when it comes to discerning your purpose in life. (You can learn more about the amazing work of Club 21 here.)

The story of Esther in the Old Testament shows how paying attention to the circumstances of our lives can help us receive, clarify, craft, and live our purpose in life. When we scrutinize our circumstances, including the needs and opportunities presented to us, we are often able to discern our purpose with greater clarity and passion. When we pay attention to our circumstances in community with others, we are assisted in this process. Others can help us see clearly how the circumstances of our lives point to our purpose.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Working Within a Fallen System (Esther).