If you are not familiar with the story of Esther, you can read it here.
Why did Esther go to the King against the law?
Was it because Mordecai told her to? It began as that - but there was more at stake than her relationship with Mordecai, close as it was.
Was it because she needed to save her people? Yes, and yet no; she had one thing stopping her: the fear of death. Straight after Mordecai calls on her to plead with the King for the future of her people, she protests that this action carried with it the high probability of death:
All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or women, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.
In other words, she was afraid to die - and this is entirely natural. Mordecai's reply was two-pronged (in Melissa's paraphrase):
- If you are afraid of death, keeping silent will only prolong it; it will not deliver you.
- What if...this is your destiny?
What if you have been strategically placed?
Divinely positioned?
What if...your beauty was not given you for yourself but because it would position you to be Queen?
What if...your queenship was not given to you for your beauty, but because you have a job to do "at such a time as this" (Esther 4:14)?
So why did Queen Esther step out to face death? The driving motivation would
eventually be the love for her people, but she was only able to do so after sacrificing her own relative safety. She walked out of her safe place with the goal of saving her people because she had chosen to step into her destiny - for good or for ill:
...and if I perish, I perish. (Esther 4:16)
For every person stepping into their destiny, it generally means facing your greatest fear, and taking a deep breath to step through the fear instead of backing away. Once that occurs, it becomes apparent that although the danger may be real, the lie behind the fear is actually trumped up, and that the grace available to all who choose to accept their God-given destiny is greater than the fear.
That same grace will help us overcome our fear, and then carve a path of safety through any danger. If we will keep to the path with wisdom and dependence on God to show us the way, we will not only accomplish our mission but we will fulfil our greatest passion: for God does not position without the passion.
Notice that after Esther took the plunge, she had work to do. Her work was not over when she faced the fear and acted despite it - in fact, it had only begun. So she was cautious and wise, and expended her energies in the intercession she had been born to perform. Now that the fear had been dealt with, she could do so effectively without fear for herself.
I would also say that she worked within that path of safety - that is why she was careful and did not put her real request out until the time was ripe. So, because she operated within that wisdom available to her through that special grace, the doors were open and she had great favour. The King was willing to give her up to half his Kingdom if that was her request. The beginning of Esther tells us that his kingdom at the time stretched from India to Ethiopia - this was no small offer! It is evidence of an enormous store of grace available to this woman who had chosen to step into her destiny.
Now after the inspirational stuff, here's some soul-food to chew on:
1. Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matt 16:24)
Esther could have tried to save her life by not going to the King in the first place. However, in the end, she would have lost it with much grief. Instead, she chose to throw away her life for a greater cause - and by doing that saved it. Consider the parallels in our lives, and the deeper meanings Jesus is alluding to. You'll only truly find LIFE when we let go of the status quo and let God take the reins: we were not born for the status quo. Each of us were made for the extraordinary.
2. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. John 15:12
Every God-given destiny has at its heart the love of God so great that He lay down His life to give it to others. His command to us is to display this same level of love to others.
How can this be done if you want to 'keep' your life?
3. If you are not yet on your path of passion, you are being positioned.
Think of Moses, of Joshua who both had a dream but could not pursue it till their character had been honed and sculpted. Then, when the time came, it required a leap of faith right through their greatest fear. And once they landed on the other side of that fear, they found an unlimited source of strength, wisdom, power to do the very thing they had been prepared for all those years. If you are thinking that you have never faced the kind of fear and favour I am talking about, it's because you're still being positioned.
4. There are others with the same passion and dream; we all have different roles in fulfilling it.
Not all of us will live to see our dream fulfilled. Consider the many scientists dreaming of a certain possibility but 'only' finding the one important principle that made it possible in future generations (I can't think of a great example but if you know one, put it in the comment below!).
Moses led the great exodus out of Egypt and thought that he would also take them right into the Promised Land - but it would not be so because Joshua would end up doing this. Joshua, however, could not have done so without the training and experience under Moses.
You may or may not see the fulfilment of your dream - but don't take this to be a negative thought. If we make our dream The Point of Living, you will be severely disappointed. You will end up feeling betrayed. The dream will continue to drive you, and yet it will seem a most hopeless lunacy that both breaks your heart and makes you get up to keep going. Some people can't take that. Why this happens is because of this: behind every great, noble dream is the One who dreamed it first, and is much more passionate about it happening than you are. Life has to be about this One, ie God. You are sharing that passion with Him because He wanted to share it with YOU. So let Him take the reins.
Because most great dreams are much bigger than an individual, it is rare that anyone is ever really alone in their great dream; there is usually someone somewhere who has a similar one and will have a part to play in fulfilling it with you. Whatever yours is, do it with your utmost diligence because the success of those coming after you will depend on yours.
5. Focus on being a reliable, good quality instrument through which God can do all that He needs to.
This is important no matter which side of your greatest fear you are standing on. My brother has several guitars. One of them is a small travel guitar that is never in tune, even 5 minutes after you have tuned it: it rapidly becomes untuned. It's unreliable. Consequently, my brother will rarely choose to take that guitar with him on a trip, even though that's what he bought it for.
Paul says in Rom 6:13:
Do not present your members [of the body] as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
In other words, don't go using your physical faculties to commit sin; instead, make them available to God to do acts of righteousness. We don't want a hammer which, after each blow, comes loose and threatens to fly off the handle - we love a tool that is able to do its job well.
We can be reliable tools in God's hands, or we can be unprepared, unreliable, difficult to use. What makes us unreliable? Unbelief, pride, fear, jealousy - just a few of many things that can get in the way.
God wants to be able to nudge you and (for example) say, 'That person over there is being rude to you but what they really need is encouragement and kind words. Do that for me.' If we are prepared and reliable, we are swift to hear this, to let go of any indignation or fear, swift to stand to attention and say, 'OK God, what do you want me to say?' And then deliver it exactly the way you heard it. When you deliver it that way, without embellishing it with anything of your own, or removing anything, you are being a reliable instrument delivering God's message to that person.
How do we become reliable? That's really a topic for another post but consider these quick points:
- become as proficient as you can in the things you can do.
Every gift is from God and was given so that it can be a gift to someone else. Whether this means a well baked cake, an excellent financial analysis or being a reliable babysitter, hone it, and do it as unto the Lord and not as a token job (Colossians 3:23-24), and be ready and willing to do these things in season and out of season - you never know when God may call upon you to be His hands and feet, His mouthpiece, His comfort, His ever-present help in time of trouble.
- cultivate the ability to hear God's voice. All God's sheep know His voice whether they think they do or not (John 10:27) Many of us just need practice tuning in to the right station. The best way to start is to study and memorise the Bible. God's character and way of thinking is revealed in it. As you study it, you will get to know who He is, and what He sounds like and therefore be able to discern whether the thoughts you get are from Him or not. God is usually speaking to us - it's whether we receive it or not.
- DO God's Word.
You need to apply the lessons, concepts and principles revealed in the Bible. Adopt the way God thinks of things, the way He does things, and ask Him to help you do this. As you allow God to shape you through His Word, it will transform you to become more and more like Him. You will have more patience, more strength to resist temptation, more gracious etc. This will help you to be a more reliable instrument in His hands to help those waiting for Him.
God has a good plan for your future, and it involves a destiny that includes your greatest passions, and your gifts. He is even now positioning you - so make the most of every opportunity. If you have already taken the plunge, make sure that you follow the path carved out for you by His grace by letting Him show you where it is - then the doors will be opened for you and you can be like Queen Esther who was faithful in the calling she had accepted, and prospered in it.
