November 14, 2011

Esther 4:13-16 NASB
Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.”

Personal Challenge...
As I have been reading through the Bible I came across this passage and it really jumped out at me. Here Esther is in the perfect place in the palace of the king where she can save her people from an impending disaster. Upon expressing her concern that if she does what she is being asked the law says that she could be put to death.

Mordecai's answer is what hit me so hard. He informs Esther that maybe God put her where she was for this very purpose, but that it was her choice whether or not she acted as needed. He also told her that if she did not do this then God would certainly raise up someone else to do it in her stead.

Esther's response also struck me...she chose to step out in faith and trust in God, and if the result was her death, then that was okay. She also stepped out in this act of faith fasting an praying for God's protection, as well as having everyone around her fast and pray as well.