Since January, I've been reading books written by, and about, several women of great faith.
All of them, women who have "gone before" - most of them missionaries - whose compelling virtue was to speak the Word of God to people who needed to hear!
Women, who lived in the early to mid 1900's, a generation apart from us.
A generation often awarded the title, "The Greatest Generation"; and, I now know why.
If there is one outstanding lesson gained by looking into their lives it is this:
They made it through great difficulty because each held to a solid theology of suffering.
Our world today is poignantly lacking a solid theology of suffering.
A verse popped up this week in the Daily Light (a little volume of compiled verses, first published in 1794, that each woman held in common):
"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17)."
These gals sought and found their courage to live amidst incredible hardship in the God of EVERLASTING COMFORT AND GOOD HOPE & He, then, in turn, gave them COURAGE!
You and I aren’t born with courage.
We can’t search for it, or find it hidden somewhere in the grass like last week's Easter eggs.
Courage can be developed and lost again.
It’s as elusive as a cloud on a windy day.
When we most need courage, for certain that’s when we won’t have it.
I’m as certain as I am of the sun going down this evening, that Esther didn’t have any the day she learned the reason why her uncle was wailing in the city gates, dressed in sackcloth, and pouring ashes over his head.
A number of things transpired between Esther’s crowning and her courageous stand before the King. I will quickly summarize:
- Mordecai uncovered a plot to kill King Xerxes
- He wasn’t honored (not even a pat on the back) – but that served God’s purposes
- Haman the Agagite was promoted to a high ranking position – like Vice President or Majority Leader
- Haman wanted everyone to bow to him
- Mordecai would not
- Haman plotted to kill Mordecai by virtue of killing off Mordecai’s entire race (this was an act of revenge for his great-great-great-great grandfather – a long story)
The king signed Haman’s plot with his irreversible signature, which meant this was a done deal, and this is why Esther find’s Mordecai wailing in the city gates.
Through a messenger, Mordecai unfolds the bad news to his niece, and cryptically confides in her these challenging words:
“Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
The words hit a home run in Esther’s heart, and she responded,
“...gather all the Jews to be found, 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. (4:12-17)"
It’s one thing to speak courageous words; it’s another to follow up on them.
Pastor/author Erwin McManus has said:
Courage is not an absence of fear; rather, courage is the absence of self.
Perhaps someone else whispered that word to Esther, as well.
Esther knows she will be absolutely unable to do what she is being asked in and of herself.
In fact, if it’s left up to her, there’s no way she would make an attempt to go to the king!
So, Esther knows she must empty herself of self in order to serve her people selflessly.
THIS IS HER ONLY HOPE!
So, Esther fasts...and asks the same of every Jew in the country.
God-centered fasting is exactly what Esther needed! And, quite often it's exactly what we need, but are reticent to do...
Jesus said to his disciples, “When you fast... (Matt 6:16)” – not if you fast, but when you fast!
Fasting has always been an exercise to remind us of the control we like to have over our own lives!
It serves to us a reminder that as we relinquish that control, we open ourselves up to the Lord for His filling, His perspective, His guidance, and, of course, His protection.
Fasting generally comes with some great purpose or need that is bigger than ourselves –
AND YET... we must be careful not to elevate our purpose over God’s.
Fasting is a more of a sign of our hungry hearts for God to show up...
A sign we desire more of Him and less of me.
As Esther fasted, God showed up!
As an added blessing, He unwrapped for her a clear plan and instilled within her an unnatural courage...
SHE KNEW THEN, INDEED, SHE WAS BORN FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS...
Need courage?
I can't muster it up within myself, and neither can you.
It's not in our spiritual DNA....not anywhere!
What we do not need is more of me...just more of God...
So, like Esther, maybe try fasting!
You won’t ever find a complete absence of fear, but what you lose will give you great gain!
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