Often we hear people raising the most familiar question “ What’s the purpose of our lives?” and they conclude that there doesn’t seem to exist one! It fills me with great sorrow to hear someone confessing that there is no meaning to their life and trying to live their life without any goal or purpose. Little do they know that God has created them and sustains their life for a special purpose. We are all unique and we are not called to be mere replicas. Our Creator, the all-knowing God doesn’t make mistakes by crafting simple duplicates of human beings! If He has formed you, it definitely is for a concrete reason. If you have breath within you now, let me assure you that you still have a purpose to accomplish!
There are certain days in my life, when my self-esteem hits ground zero and I question myself if I am good for anything or anyone. At those instances, instead of trying to believe the lies the evil one whispers and accepting defeat, one must acknowledge as in Psalms 139:13-14
“For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.”
When we comprehend that the Almighty God meticulously knit each one of us in our mother’s womb, we will understand that we are no ordinary people. If we are created without any specific reason, why is God concerned over our lives at all times and He leads us even if we try to hide?
“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me.” Psalms 139:7-10
If you are questioning your existence, let this be engraved deep within your hearts that you are designed with a great purpose in mind. Your circumstances, family, education, career, race or standard of living doesn’t define your purpose. Esther was an ordinary girl who was raised by her cousin Mordecai, who was carried into exile from Jerusalem. She would have definitely experienced a lot of hardships having neither father nor mother, being in a foreign land and much more. She could have been easily dismayed by her existence if she looked at her past and all her misfortunes. In her early days, I wonder if Esther had realized the great plans God had in store for her. She would have never won the favor of the king or everyone who saw her if God didn’t have a purpose for her life. Esther was predestined by God to serve as queen of King Xerxes replacing Queen Vashti.
Esther 2:17 says “Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.”
If she wasn’t brought to Susa although through captivity, she would have never been eligible to even enter the royal courts. Because Esther was the queen, she had the privilege to approach the king's presence and to re-write the decrees against Jews and request his favour to spare the entire Jewish community. God used an ordinary woman like Esther to rescue Jews, overruling the orders written in the name of King Xerxes that were sealed with his own signet ring. The initial order written against the Jews was indeed dreadful as mentioned in Esther 3:13, 14 “Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day.”
“In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.”
The all-knowing God already knew the things which were to unfold even before Esther was born. Esther was hence born with a great mission at hand although she may not have initially realized it. The course of a great disaster planned against the entire Jewish community was diverted by an ordinary girl. Can you imagine the downfall that would have befell them if Esther hadn’t realized her purpose? She was reminded of this mission by Mordecai in Esther 4: 14 “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
You are placed in specific places and among certain people for a special purpose, be it in your workplaces, neighborhood, schools and colleges, inner circle of friends so that God could work through you for redeeming many. Do we understand that when we cross paths with certain people, it might be their single chance to experience the love of God in their life through you? It may happen through a great transformation as in the life of Esther which brought her from captivity into the royal palace or it could also be as simple as exchanging a kind word or a smile which has the power to impact another life. Never belittle yourself and never claim that you are of no use - you are indeed of a great use in the hand of the Creator. Never neglect your mission!
Because Esther realized her purpose and risked her life to accomplish it, not only was her family spared from the annihilation rather it led to the destruction of their adversary and granted protection of Jews in every city. Because of her, weeping and wailing of Jews were turned to a time of happiness, gladness and honor. Looking at your present situations and foreseeing a bleak future, you may not be able to fathom that there even exists a meaning to your life, but understand that God’s thoughts are higher than your thoughts. It’s way beyond human comprehension - it has the power to transition us even from captivity to royalty!
Isaiah 55:8-9 says,
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."
When you are brought to face certain times and situations, realize that those are God-appointed times for you to act as per His counsel. You have faced nothing in your life without His prior knowledge. We are like clay in the hands of a potter who shapes us into a beautiful masterpiece. Realize that you are born into this world with a special purpose and work towards it!
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