Let’s Define It

Significant.  Miriam-Webster online has the following definitions with examples:

“1 : having meaning; especially : suggestive a significant glance

2 a : having or likely to have influence or effect : important a significant piece of legislation; also : of a noticeably or measurably large amount a significant number of layoffs producing significant profits

b : probably caused by something other than mere chance statistically significant correlation between vitamin deficiency and disease”

Your Life

   But what does it mean to you? Ben Franklin said, “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do things worth writing.”  I try to do both. Did he live a life of significance? I think we will all agree that he did. If you ask the average American to name something about Ben Franklin you would get a varied response. You might hear such as he created the potbellied stove; he created the bifocals; he was struck by lightning when flying a kite in a storm, or more likely, he is on a $100.00 bill. But was he more significant today than he was in his generation?

Based on the above definitions, are you more significant today than you will be in future generations? Does your life have meaning? Do you have influence or effect? Do you make things happen rather than wait for a mere chance? The choice rests with you and no one else. I believe you, and I are alive, right now, at this time to be significant. It wasn’t chance. It was God-ordained.

A Biblical/ Historical Example

   If you have ever read the book of Esther you know, it reads like a soap opera. A king who lorded over his wife and a wife who disrespected her husband and lost her head in the process. Then the king throws a beauty pageant to pick the next queen. Beautiful Esther wins. It isn’t clear if she wanted to be there, but now she is the new queen. Meanwhile, her cousin Mordechai foils a plot to kill the king (and isn’t even thanked for his involvement).  Throw in a murderous, narcissistic prime minister in the king’s court named Haman, who hates Mordechai because he won’t bow down as Haman passes by. All this time the king’s court does not know that both Esther and Mordechai are related and are Jews.

One thing leads to another and Haman convinces the king to open up hunting season on Jews. Haman builds a gallows to hang Mordechai when the season opens up personally. Mordechai goes to Esther on behalf of their people and tells her she needs to convince the king to spare them. She hesitates. Sidebar: during this period, if someone came to the court of the king without being summoned and the king did not extend his scepter toward them in favor, then they were killed. The king had already chopped off one queen’s head. Mordechai’s response is timeless. He asked Esther if she thinks just because she is the queen that she and her family will be spared.  “Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” he adds.

Be the Change

Who knows why you are where you are in life today? Who knows why you were born to the family in which you were? Who knows how significant your life is to those around you? Who knows why you have had the struggles in life that you have had? God does. He intended for you to be significant in this generation and to those around you. You are not here by mere chance without meaning. You are here to influence and effect/affect your generation. I love the Gandhi quote where he instructs us to “be the change in the world that you want to see.” Your time is now. Your time is here. God formed you and placed you here in this time and generation on purpose, for a purpose. You are here “for such a time as this.” What are you going to do about it?