Last Monday, I was on the Philippine premiere of 1040 Movie and I was really, really blown away with what God is doing in Asia. Although I am from the Philippines and I`m living in the middle of Southeast Asia, I never thought that such massive movement is going on in this part of the world. I`ve heard before about children speaking in tongues in Singapore, Korean churches growing in enormous proportions, and God touching lives and hearts of many Asian men and women, but I never thought of it happening simultaneously, like a really massive movement! I wasn`t aware of how God is moving big time here in Asia--that even in Islam countries like Indonesia, God is raising up thousands of believers who are bold enough to tell the world that Jesus is God.

What even struck me the most was how God is using people from the entertainment industry to witness for Him. Of course, we know about Siwon being a Christian and radically standing up for God. And then there`s  Van Ness Wu and Korean stars like Ryeo Won and Alice Soy. And it`s just amazing how God is enabling these people to be bold and tell the world who Jesus Christ is.

 

I was reminded of the early church, (in Acts Chapter 4, after Peter and John was set released from prison but was commanded to stop speaking about Jesus) when they prayed for God to make them brave to share the Gospel despite the persecution. And God responded to them.

“After they had prayed, the meeting place shook. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and bravely spoke God`s message.” Acts 4:31

I pray that I will also witness that in the Philippines. It is my desire to see people radically standing up for God. Teenagers, students, politicians, professors—all bravely speaking God`s message to the people around them and to the world.

Like what Jaeson Ma said last Monday, God has not placed us here for no reason at all. You and I aren`t created Filipinos for no reason. You aren`t a Christian producer for nothing. You`re not  a Christian lawyer for nothing. You`re  not even studying in that university just because you passed the entrance test and that`s it. Wearen`t strategically living right in the middle of Southeast Asia just because we just happened to be here. The people around you, they didn`t get to know you just by accident. Everywhere we are, whatever profession we have, everyone around us, God has orchestrated, God has planned. He has has placed us exactly where we are for His greater purpose and that is to bring the nations to Himself.

 

Mordecai mourned and covered himself with ashes when a decree that would annihilate the Jews was made in Persia by the request of the guy, Haman. When Queen Esther inquired about his mourning, Mordecai told Esther the news and asked her to beg the King to  spare them. But Esther replied saying there`s a decree that if a person would enter the throne room of the king uncalled for, that person must die, whoever she is, even if she is Queen. And Esther, she had not been called for 30 days!

 

But Mordecai sent back this reply.

…Do not think that because you are in the king`s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you will 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. But who knows but that you have come to a royal position for such a time as this.

                                                                                              Esther 4:13-14

In another version it says:

It could be that you were made Queen for such a time like this!

                                                                                       Esther 4:13-14

For such a time like this.

 

The recent hostage crisis. The corruption in the government that`s surfacing one by one. The injustice. People dying of poverty and sicknesses that could`ve been prevented. Young people dropping out of school and  lining up in all kinds of  auditions to have a better future only to fail and have a broken heart. This country is filled with people that are broken, with hearts that need to be healed, with souls thirsty for Jesus Christ.

 

But we are scared.

 

I`m afraid people will make fun of me. I`m afraid I`m gonna lose my job. My friends would leave me and call me a religious nut. Esther, herself, told Mordecai that she`s gonna die if she does it. She could lose her head and her life.

But Esther made up her mind and took the risk of being killed in that Persian throne room.

I will go to see the king even if it is against the law. If I perish, I perish. Esther 4: 16

…all because she knew that she must`ve been made Queen “for such a time as this”.

 

You may be an actor. A doctor perhaps. Or you may be a simple blogger like me. And you weren`t born 100 years ago or 50 years from now. You are born at this moment. In this time. You could have been from another race. But you were born a Filipino and you are alive today with all these things happening around you.

 

Siwon and other Korean celebrities sometimes get bashed online for posting pictures taken during their Bible studies. But so much more than those who bash them are those who are inspired because of  their faith and their love for God. Even atheists and those from other religions are admiring them for professing their faith, and that`s all because they chose to rise up for their generation. Perhaps, they thought they weren`t popular for nothing and that they were  positioned exactly where they are for a reason. They took the risk and accepted the call. In fact, Si Won in one of his tweets said “Rest in God !!        No shame, No Fear !! :D” along with this picture where he and his celeb friends are holding Bibles after a Bible study.

 

But how about us? Aren`t we gonna rise up for this generation as well? Esther rose for hers. Even King David for his. Now celebrities like Siwon and Van Ness are rising up for theirs and so are many other Christians who are radically standing up for Christ in their own neighborhoods, in their own schools and workplaces. 

 

But how about you and me? Are we just gonna watch these people stand up for God, becoming His hands and feet and His voice? Are we just gonna watch our country as it fights crisis after crisis? As kids die of hunger everyday? As teenagers kill themselves out of frustration and depression? Are we just gonna stand here and do nothing as Filipinos long and search for love and for God?

 

Who knows? We must`ve been created for such a time like this. I believe I am and I believe you are too.