"And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?"
There is something poignant about the above Bible quote:
“For such a time as this.”
It will no doubt mean different things to different people. But for me, it’s that feeling when you see most of the grains of sand in the bottom half of an hourglass.
It’s reflecting on the other three seasons in life and how I got through them, regardless of how fleeting or painful. It certainly has allowed me to build character through the decades, of which I mostly got things wrong. But I got a few things right by the Grace of the Holy Trinity.
Let me begin by adding context to the quote from the Old Testament, Book of Esther, Chapter 4, verse 14.
I had a chat using online AI that sums up the following points.
The Bible verse “for such a time as this” appears in Esther 4:14, which reads in full, “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”.
The verse continues, “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.”
Context
Mordecai speaks the verse to his cousin Esther, who has become the new queen. He urges Esther to talk to the king to save the Jewish people from annihilation.
Interpretation
Some believe the verse suggests that God has placed people in their positions for a specific purpose and that they should not remain silent when the opportunity arises to fulfill that purpose.
Themes
The verse concerns courage, obedience, and trust in God’s plan.
My Testimony
In very short phrasing, I’ve been a ‘sick pup’ for many years, born into sin and then pushing the envelope of God’s Grace and Mercy. I became a Newborn Christian in the Autumn of 1974, at age twelve.
But I had a lot of baggage to process, and the future would dole out tons more.
My parents married and divorced so quickly in the early 1960s that their marriage chapter ended before I was born. I longed to understand what happened, but I never got a straight answer from my mother or father. Life has its little mysteries.
The fallout would be that my mom would get diagnosed with MS, and later, as emerging medical science developed in the 1970s, she got Lupus Erythematosus Sclerosis. She had her first heart attack in her early 30s.
Meanwhile, my father and I finally met when I was 8. It was weird and awkward. He had alcoholism while my mother was sick, and he needed to teach in London. That left me to meet my Aunt Elsie, my dad’s sister, and her husband, Uncle Jim, in 1970, where I lived with them for just over a year in Chula Vista, CA. I met my grandparents, Grandma Katherine and Grandfather Jasper, on my dad’s side. He was no Grandpa. Just a grumpy old man and never made eye contact or even had a single conversation. My father would be the interpreter.
Fast forward to more foster homes, a Boy’s Ranch, and multiple episodes of being the victim of Child Sexual Assault. I was a victim of bullying, physical and verbal abuse by step-fathers or mom’s boyfriends, juvenile criminal punks, drugs, and near-death situations that I barely got out of alive and unharmed.
I had my scrapes with the law, which made it difficult for me to be placed in other foster homes until I turned 18 and became an adult.
I moved in with my mother and one of her boyfriends, who had children my age, and I thought it would be a good time to live together. But alas, it was not to be. The boyfriend couldn’t stand me, so he kicked me out weeks shy of High School graduation.
I was alone and desperate, with $75.00 in my pocket, given to me by my mom, and a ‘hang in there’ goodbye hug. Needless to say, my mom left the dude not long after.
God spared me by using someone I didn’t know from a different local church, but it didn’t matter. This older lady was like a grandmother to me. She paid my motel bill, covered the cost of prepared food, and found someone to hire me. She drove me to work and back on a second shift until I could afford a used motorcycle. She even covered my storage, where I bought a small motorbike to commute on, until I enlisted in the US Army as a Field Medical Specialist later that summer of 1980.
During that time, I became indoctrinated into the depths of sin. I completely walked ‘off the reservation’ of my Christian Walk. I got married too soon and had a daughter with my first wife, thinking the shared love of our child would bring us together. Sadly and naturally, it didn’t work out, so we split up.
My life after the Army went into a downward tailspin. I never really matured because of the instability of many transitioning home placements.
I knew right from wrong, but I didn’t care then.
As the years passed, I worked here and there, gaining skills across various fields.
Generating a broad range of skills was how God would take my mess and turn it around for His good.
Those different jobs culminate into the most valuable skill set I continue to incorporate nearly 45 years later.
I often felt the stings of my past as if they just stung me in a moment.
Job recruiters hired me for well-paying roles because I had spent years studying self-help books, applying them to improve myself and create a better persona.
My walk has grown significantly with favor and blessing since I surrendered my heart to Jesus. I’ve learned to love the person and hate the sin.
God forgives me for the pain and suffering I caused others during the 1980s. But I had to forgive myself. For a brief moment, I lost my pride and became part of the human debris the system spits out.
I want to share with you the story of the prodigal son you may have read about in the Holy Bible’s New Testament, who comes back home to his father and lives happily ever after, and that somehow is me.
The good news is that I repented of my sins and returned to church with my family. But I assure you that returning to Jesus as an adult is much more difficult. I married, divorced, and remarried my wife, Grace.
Even then, my flesh would battle against Jesus because I was still heavily influenced by Satan.
I rebelled against the principles of Christianity. It would take decades to rebuild myself as a stalwart Christian.
The road less traveled: a pathway to recovery from greed, jealousy, hate.
In contrast, I never smoked tobacco like my late mom and never drank anymore, like my late father.
But that spirit of addiction was in my genes. Every day, I have to die to myself. These days, when I awake, I summon the Holy Spirit to come into my presence. I ask Jesus to allow me to abide in him and to walk with the Holy Spirit at His pace, not mine.
And here’s an interesting point to segue with as I continue explaining my testimony.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
For many decades, I have claimed that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Sadly, that was only half true. I wanted to be my Lord, to be in my own control. After all, I read the Holy Bible from cover to cover and thought I knew it all.
But I didn’t. Instead, like an immature kid who’s a screaming mass of hormones, over time the kid matures (hopefully) and begins to imagine that his parents were not as stupid as he once subjectively thought.
I fondly look back on the beginning of the romance between my wife, Grace, and me. I look back, laugh, shake my head, and smile. The chemistry was both toxic and mesmerizing. All those chemicals overrode our minds. It was wild and exhausting. Real love is not the stereotypical sticky, sappy infatuation that develops. No, real love is messy, painful, and full of tears.
The word “love” is thrown around loosely, like the words “amazing” and “perfect. ” It’s cringeworthy whenever I hear those words used in nearly every other breath young adults speak.
In the Bible, Jesus speaks to Peter twice, asking if he loves Him, because it’s Simon Peter! After Peter emphatically replies three times how much he loves Jesus, Jesus says, “Take care of my sheep.”
And Peter became the Rock of Jesus’s Church. That was Peter’s Ministry. Daily Living With Water is mine so that I can care for those in the world who need to reduce their exposure to toxins that mess with people’s hormones and vital organs, and carcinogens that cause cancer. In many cases, their lives are shorter because their bodies can’t cope with the poisonous traces in their daily water supply, which remain unchecked, primarily due to a lack of awareness and knowledge about exposure.
The love Jesus spoke of was agape love. Today, we might describe agape love as tough love. It is ‘nevertheless love.’
In other words, I don’t have to like my neighbor, but you can be sure that if their house is on fire, I’ll risk my own life to save their family.
But if you can, over time, allow the love of Christ to flow through you and chase you down with endless blessings you don’t deserve, joy begets blessings, and kindness spills over to the old heart of stone and marinates it into random acts of kindness, such as helping seniors load their heavy groceries into their car or shoveling the snow out of their driveway and sidewalk because they can’t.
Be careful what you pray for, because sometimes you’ll get it.
After around 40 years of singing along to Michael W. Smith’s song, ‘My Place In This World,’ for the several hundredth time, I admit that the music still resonates with me.
After being embarrassingly dismissed at the beginning of my morning shift just five days before Christmas in 2019, I had had enough with the corporate world and its downsizing tactics.
No matter how many times I exit a company position, it still brings back negative emotions of frustration and pain, embarrassment and guilt, anxiety, and fear of the unknown.
I learned that even if I’m angry when I talk to God, I know there’s a mutual understanding that He can take it, no matter how misguided I become or how I fall apart.
So rather than crying out, “Why Me Lord?”
I put myself in Solomon’s sandals when God speaks to Solomon.
The Internet explains in the following synopsis:
In the Old Testament, there is a Bible passage about God speaking to Solomon.
The Lord appears to Solomon and consecrates the house he has built to put His name there forever.
God promised Solomon that if he walked with integrity and obeyed God’s commandments, he would establish a kingdom over Israel. However, if he turns from following God, the kingdom will be cut off from the land. Solomon also requests an “understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil.”
In essence, Solomon is asking for wisdom. He was already smart for asking God for wisdom, because Solomon did not want to be kicked out of the land God had given the Israelites. That’s practical! But deep down, I know that Solomon had a heart for God’s people. God doesn’t look at or listen to the sound bites we say; instead, he looks at and listens to our hearts. Solomon had great humility, reverence for God, and vast wisdom.
Back to me now. I prayed, listened to God, and imagined Him asking me what I would like to do next. Then I recall that Jesus taught about asking and receiving, knocking on the door and having it opened, and seeking and finding. But then the hit over the head comes next when he teaches the following:
"Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."
So, I asked with all my heart, mind, and spirit if I could teach people how to protect themselves from the toxic water issues we are all exposed to more than ever. But I didn’t stop there. Now, in that prayer, I’m sliding into Solomon’s sandals for a moment and requesting wisdom, specifically in the knowledge and skill set of water treatment from proven medical science and engineering, so that I do not harm any individual whatsoever, for my King Jesus, and His Glory, NOT MINE.
And without a shadow of a doubt, God granted my desire to serve. And here comes that agape love. Did you know that the world-famous Will Rogers during the Great Depression was the rockstar of that era? He just happened to be my grandfather’s second cousin. When Will Rogers tragically died in an airplane crash three weeks later, my dad was born and named William Raymond Rogers in honor of this great man of wisdom and humor. Search his name and read a few of his quotes. You’ll see, they still hold up a century later.
After the Christmas and New Year Season had passed, that century-old virus reared its ugly head around the world.
So, finding any work to do was next to impossible.
Meanwhile, between job searches, I found time to research water issues of all kinds and identify the most viable, economically feasible solutions to remedy them in every home.
Jesus reminded me of how I interviewed for a technical support and customer service position at a water treatment manufacturing company that specializes in providing the safest treated water for dental hygienists to rinse patients’ mouths during cleanings. They hired me within five minutes of my leaving the interview.
It piqued my mind to ask myself: why should we only be allowed a few seconds once or twice a year to enjoy the safest clinically proven water quality, up to 50 times safer than the EPA-mandated Safe Drinking Water Act’s specifications? And why not enjoy the water treatment improvement 24 hours a day?
The other unique situation was truly like a once-in-a-million lottery ticket. I was onboarded at a small company of just under 50 employees, where I could seek technical assistance within walking distance of engineers and chemists who brought unique expertise. These were engineers, microbiologists, and chemists. Plus, I had access to a state-licensed water testing lab and the lab techs who plated the samples for testing chemicals, microbiologics, water hardness, transition metals, and heavy metals.
We resolved any water issues our customers reported worldwide, including Major Ivy League Universities, dental colleges, the Pentagon, and most military branches. I even worked with mobile clinics that support local communities, whether inner-city communities or Indian Reservations within the US, plus thousands of dental clinics across the USA.
But here’s where Pareto’s 80/20 Principle goes to the power of two. That’s the top 20 of the top 20, or, said differently, the top 4 percent. I created an inner circle for myself to advocate for my customers. Most people with a 4-7-year degree in their field keep to themselves. It’s their widget, and nobody can take it from them. And if someone needs to solve it, they will pay big bucks to put that scientist on the payroll.
When I was the sole proprietor of a carpet cleaning and water damage restoration company, I attended mixers and networking groups where we exchanged client contact information so a client could get a referral for a specific area of expertise.
The wit and charm of Will Rogers’ bloodline, albeit indirectly, passed down a century to me. I mean, I didn’t have to take these people to a bar and hang out to get the vital information needed to solve our customers’ problems. They saw in me my kid-like fascination with medical science, so much so that they even suggested I go back to school and become an engineer.
I did the math on that quickly. 4-7-year degrees times a half dozen different areas of expertise is decades of knowledge. But in just over a year, I gained a deeper understanding as a water treatment troubleshooter than most people. I was troubleshooting for Infection Control Officers who oversaw 100-plus operatory dental chairs. And when they had a bacterial outbreak of hundreds, they called me. And I had the back-channel support of my scientists, chemists, and engineers. Why? They don’t want to speak directly to the customer because they lack soft communication skills, and they position themselves as the supreme authority.
And just another stat to consider: over 95% of the reported cases we supported were not from mechanical or product failures—they were human error factors.
Over my decade of experience handling flood, fire, smoke, and earthquake damage restoration and mitigation, I became an internationally recognized Master Cleaner and Restorer, the sixth in the State of Colorado.
I don’t tell you this to brag; I’m sharing this to let you know I’m the guy you can trust as a subject-matter expert (and enthusiast)!
Can I teach? I understood the subject matter so well that whenever a new employee, either entry-level or high-level, went through my one-hour course and whiteboard presentation, they were blown away by my excitement and enthusiasm, and proud to work for such a stellar company. Some staff members who had taken the same company introduction ten years before were blown away by my enthusiasm and were proud to work for such a stellar company.
Explaining in simple terms when possible is like participating in a show-and-tell for kids, a rare breed. Steve Irwin, aka The Crocodile Hunter, and Bill Nye, The Science Guy, come to mind. Not everyone can dazzle the dry and dull data.
Eventually, after I left the company I was laid off from, I researched all water problems and the most viable solutions available today, specializing in peer-reviewed medical science data that appears in scientific and medical journals and health institutions with great earnestness and rigor.
It wasn’t impossible since I had a mission and God’s wisdom and discernment to care for Jesus’ flock of sheep. After all, Jesus has many names, and the Great Shepherd is one of them. From a biblical perspective, water is often referred to as a blessing. Jesus’ first miracle was turning water into wine. Jesus’s official entry point into His ministry was at the well with the gentile woman. The same water well that Jacob and his sons dug thousands of years ago.
It just all ties together. I had to get my heart right before God released me into the wild. For years, my messaging about how to approach the public was confusing because my solution is to teach people a vital skill to protect their families.
But alas, the reminder is that I’m entering my advanced years and already a great-grandfather. I need to share this knowledge with the global population quickly. At the same time, I still have the wherewithal to complete this mission before I pass away. I don’t want to sin with being complacent. People need to be protected. So much good health and wellness will manifest itself in homes worldwide.
So there you have it. My testimonial shares how I finally surrendered all my messy life to Him so that I could become a willing vessel to care for Jesus’ flock. Now you can see why the glory all goes to Jesus. I want to hear him welcome me home in heaven and call me a good and faithful servant so that I can do many things in His Kingdom. That’s the goal: to finish this race well in my final winter season of life. God’s grace has given me decades to get this right for such a time as this.
I can’t wait to see God flourish our mission to serve the people of the world, to build a critical mass movement that grows so exponentially that the devil in the world could not stop it if he tried. May God breathe new life into this tiny enterprise.
You might be asking yourself, “What will I charge for this wealth of water treatment knowledge and training?” The answer is nothing, monetarily, at this time.
This is an experiment in transferring the gift of knowledge to you. If it fails to catch on, then it goes to the grave with me until God provides another solution in the future. I seek your prayers of support and blessing to help guide me as I abide in Him.
If this ministry’s offering to the world takes hold, I plan to create a nonprofit ministry to reach the world’s community. Right now, everything is scaled back by design to be scrappy and lean because the expenses of the tools used in the background are high. But there may come a time when this ministry needs financial support from its friends.
When that time comes, I’ll let you know if I need anything. For now, enjoy soaking up the closely guarded secrets I’m sharing to help you protect your family and property from less-than-desirable water quality.
As long as my Father in Heaven allows this ministry’s mission to continue, by spreading the Good News of how Jesus saves and positioning our hearts to fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission to follow Him and live the life that gives back to the world’s needs in whichever way God has chosen each of us with our unique gifting of talents and a willing heart.
For me, it’s Water Treatment Defense education and training that’s life-giving. It is my absolute joy to present this one-of-a-kind ministry, and in a time like this, I’m offering my experience, complimentary training, and resources.
All I ask in return at this time is to help share our mission and ministry with as many people as possible because God loves us all and wants only the very best care while we walk through this journey in our lives. Why merely survive from day to day when we can thrive in good health and wellness?
My hope is that you see how God can take a wretch like me and turn my messy life around, pouring out blessings to the world in need of the essential, attainable gift of safe, healing water.
In closing, my prayer is that you come to experience the never-ending love of Jesus for you and your family, my friend.
May God richly bless and keep you with much favor in good health, prosperity, and perfect peace.
With all my love in Christ,
Mike Rogers
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