This past Monday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. (The Holocaust was a genocide of some six million European Jews … approximately two-thirds of the Jewish population in Europe between 1941 and 1945).
I wanted to take a moment to write about Irene Sendler. She was a WWII Nurse in the Warsaw ghetto who took a stand against the Nazis by smuggling and rescuing 2,500 Jewish infants and children from the Nazi Regime. She was captured and they broke both of her arms and legs, and sentenced her to death. However, somehow she was able to escape, changed her name, and continued her mission. She kept all the names of the children in a glass jar buried in her back yard. At the end of the war, she then tried to locate the parents that hadn’t died in the Holocaust. Those children whose parents were killed by the Nazis were placed in foster homes or adopted. She had given so much of herself and saved so many. She took a courageous and dangerous risk in taking a stand against the Nazis in her efforts to save as many children as she could…..and she succeeded!
In today’s world, there are so many things one could take a stand on: Morals are being jeopardized, beliefs are being challenged, technology seems out of control, relationships are hurting, addictions are rampant, expenses are skyrocketing, financial worries abound, and the list of life’s day-to-day issues could go on and on.
Where do we stand when others are in need of support and encouragement, especially when it involves taking a courageous and dangerous risk for what we strongly believe is right? Irene Sendler was willing to take such a stand at the risk of her very life.
The biblical story of Esther, in the Book of Esther, is another great example of standing up for not only one’s belief and faith, but also for the saving of the Jewish people. Modecai, Esther’s elderly cousin, adopted Esther after her parents were killed. He wins the affection of King Xerxes when he discovered and relayed to the king a plot of others to take the king’s life. Esther eventually becomes queen to this king, and upon learning of Haman’s (one of the king’s nobles) treachery in planning to annihilate the Jewish people, she reveals this information to the King. Modecia had pled with Esther to reveal Haman’s evil plan to the king (at the risk of her life), encouraging her not to remain silent, take a stand in revealing Haman’s evil plan to the king, and indicating that perhaps she had been placed in her position “for such a time as this.”
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? Esther 4:14
Please check out the movie, “One Night With The King,” regarding Esther. It’s a great movie that you will enjoy!
Perhaps Irene Sendler, too, was placed in her position to save the Jewish children “for such a time as this.”
Perhaps others throughout history, including ourselves today, are placed in a position “for such as time as this” as part of God’s plan for our lives.
We may never be called upon in our lifetime to take such dramatic stands as these two women in history mentioned above, or others who have done so throughout history; however, may we always have the courage and strength to speak out against injustice, provide assistance to others in their time of need, and to take a stand on our beliefs knowing that perhaps God has placed us there “for such a time as this.”
God will provide the strength and hope that is necessary to do what is right in the midst of trials.
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7
Poem excerpt with photo above is from poem, “I’ll Take a Stand,” from my book, “The Fingers of God.”
Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash
