Esther 10:3
For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews and in favor with his many kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the welfare of his whole nation.
The story of Easter is the story of God putting His people in the place of power and/or influence over power for the purpose of accomplishing His plan for mankind. In this particular chapter of God's plan, God has His people, the Jews, in captivity because of their disobedience to Him. However, even in captivity, God is watching over His people. From the Jews will come the future Messiah, the Savior of the Word. God must and does protect the Jews from any harm. In the story of Queen Esther God takes a young Jewish girl and her uncle, Mordecai, and places them in the position of influence to protect the Jews from complete annihilation. A evil man (Haman) who had the king's (Ahasuerus) ear, was about to destroy the entire Jewish population. God protected them by putting Mordecai and Esther in the right spot at the right time. When we think about the "work" jobs we have in life, do we consider "why" God has placed us in these particular spots? We sometimes think that the job we have is to make money and to create a world of comfort for ourselves and our families. Although God is not objecting to a world that has some comfort, God actually puts us in the positions we have to be there for Him and for His plans and His needs. When we think of Joseph and Daniel and Mordecai and Esther we see the example of someone God put in the right place at the right time to do His work and have influence over the leaders of the day. But, it is not always someone of high prominence, that God uses. Note the following:
Acts 26:13
But the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, and he came and entered the barracks and told Paul.
In the book of Acts, Paul had been taken captive by the religious leaders of the and they had made an oath to kill Paul. But, God had a young lad (Paul's nephew) standing nearby and used him to inform Paul's guard. God puts us in places of honor to accomplish His tasks and His good work. Mordecai found favor from all the Jews and his captors because God gave him that influence. We must never think that our rise to power or prominence is for our own good. Our rise to influence is so that we are in the right place at the right time to do the right thing for God - offer advice, or influence over a situation that God wants to go His way. We can either use our places and position for God's plan or use them to earn money and make ourselves comfortable. That is the choice before us.
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