Esther 4

Esther 4:15-16  Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,  ¹⁶ "Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish."

I don’t know anyone who enjoys taking orders.  We all like doing things our way in our timing.  Though, almost every area of our life is full of doing things because it is what others require of us.  At school, we do as our teachers ask so we can learn and graduate to the next grade.  At work, we do as our boss requires so we can get paid and hopefully earn raises and promotions.  At home, we do as our family needs – doing laundry and cleaning, making meals spending time together.  Very rarely, it seems, we get to do what we want and how we want.

There is one other that we need to follow and do as He requires, God.  God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9) and often times He asks us to things we are unsure of, uncomfortable with, or even places fear within us.  We just don’t want to.  We’d like to put our foot down and just say, “No!”

Our passage today is from the book of Esther, the story of God preserving the Jewish people throughout the Persian Empire through Esther and her Uncle Mordecai.  God requires a task of Esther and she doesn’t want to carry it out.  In fact she says, “No, it’s too dangerous” because she might lose her life.  Eventually, through the course of events, she comes to the understanding that being obedient is more important than her life.  She does what is required and God’s people are preserved.

Being obedient is more important that your life.  God’s ways often seem strange to us…He just doesn’t make sense sometimes.  Though, do we really want a God we can completely understand?  Plus, if we do it His way instead of our way, He gets the glory…it has to be Him working through us!!

What is God asking of you?  Is He asking you to stand up for someone, a co-worker or classmate?  Is He asking you to stand up against an ethical wrong at work?  Is He asking you to encourage someone in your life whom you haven’t spoken with in years?  Does He want you to share the Gospel Message with a family member who has been resistant for years?  Is there a ministry He is leading you to start, but you have been trying to ignore Him? 

God doesn’t typically ask us to do easy things that don’t cause us to sweat.  If He did, we wouldn’t have to rely on Him for help.  Remember, if God is leading you to do or say or start something, He will be with you until the end.  Even if we feel foolish or fearful, following God is more important!!  Who knows?  Maybe we have been made “for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14)

I’m praying for you!

Pastor Amy