“Mordecai told the messenger to reply to Esther, “Don’t think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews because you are in the king’s palace. If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s family will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.”
Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: “Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my female servants will also fast in the same way. After that, I will go to the king even if it is against the law. If I perish, I perish.” So Mordecai went and did everything Esther had commanded him.”
Have you ever been in a position where you knew that all were relying on you? It was up to you to communicate the message, deliver the news, make the connection…you get what I’m saying. In history, there have been many times important news, decisions or actions were left in the hands of one person. Many times the ideas, plans, discoveries of one person has left an impact greater on more than just their time period.
Esther had received grave news from Mordecai. Haman, the king’s right hand man, was up to no good and had ordered the murder of the Jews in all of the Persian provinces. Esther, faced with the news of her uncertain fate, knew she had to do something. Mordecai made it very clear that she would not escape just because she was wearing the crown. He even went so far as to suggest that perhaps she had been placed in that position for this very moment. Esther gathered her courage, fasted for three days, praying to Almighty God and choosing not to cower in fear.
Faith requires action. “In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself,” (James 2:17). Esther possessed great faith. She took action – fasting, praying, choosing to go before the king, understanding she was taking her life in her hands. We too are called to live lives of great faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” His reward is not always immediate or material. He rewards us with opportunities to grow closer to Him, to know Him more, to see Him work. For each us that chooses to live by faith, He has given us the Spirit of power, love and sound judgment, not fear (2 Timothy 1:7).
We can live our lives in the face of great adversity because we have a Great God. And the faith He has placed in us He desires us to exercise. Lean into Him, not on our own understanding. In other words, doing it His way, not our way. But in faith, on our knees in prayer, believing God is able and that He has filled us with all we need to live an abundant life in Him (2 Peter 1:3).
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