“So, what are you going to do with your major?”

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place….And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this” (4:14)

 “So, what are you going to do with your major?” was one of the most popular questions I received at family gatherings while in my undergrad. This question can be tricky in a world with very few straight lines and many guaranteed surprises.

In dependence on Him we plan and act by taking steps in accordance with what we perceive to be his will, but when one comes to a point of decision how can one definitively know their “calling”?

The story of Esther is a fascinating example of a calling that seems to be stumbled upon. The Persian King Xerxes finds himself in need of a queen due to the surprising noncompliance of his former wife. Esther is discovered to be “lovely” and is chosen to be Queen (2:7). In the meantime, one of the men in King Xerxes court has it in his mind to exterminate all of the Jews and convinces the king to make this happen through an edict (Xerxes does not know that his Queen is a Jew).

Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, sends Esther a message, “if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place….And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this” (4:14)

In undergrad you are in a position where you get to choose your major, and, in some ways, your line of work, but the path is not entirely clear. “And who knows” where you will invest the working days of your life? In truth, nothing is certain and no one knows where God is taking them in his service.

What is comforting to me about this text is that there is both an invitation to humility and an empowering vision of stewardship. An invitation to sober-minded humility is given by Mordecai “relief for the Jews will arise from another place” – God doesn’t need Esther to change the world, he is capable of doing it (4:14). A vision of empowerment is also conveyed, “for such a time as this” many privileges have been given. Mordecai will not let Esther forget this.

Since Esther’s time, God’s kingdom has not stopped moving forward. He still determines the times and the places that each one of us shall live (Acts 17:26) and He still grants us the resources and relationships to steward (1 Peter 4:10, Gen 2:14; Matthew 25:20-21). Given that you are at a unique point in God’s story, where might he be pleased to use you?  When it comes to communicating the trustworthiness of our God perhaps your posture of dependence could communicate more than your plan ever could?