Make Your Choice
Fear is everywhere. We are always going to be surrounded by it. Fear is one of those things we will have to deal with all our lives, and there are two ways we can choose to respond to it. Maybe you have seen these before.
The first is to Forget Everything And Run.
The second is to Face Everything And Rise.
There are so many Biblical stories we can choose from to talk about fear. “Fear not” is found in scripture 365 times. That says something! I challenge you to show me one time in any of those stories where God uses someone to advance His kingdom by telling them to stay exactly where they are or stay in their comfort zone.
The story that comes to mind for me when I think about stories of fear in the Bible is the story of Esther. The book of Esther is fascinating to me. It is one of only two books in all of scripture where God is not mentioned (the other is Song of Solomon in case you were wondering). This book has fear running all through it: fear of being taken from your home and thrust into a new one with a bunch of people you don’t know, fear of your real identity and background being revealed, fear of having to do things that you have never done before, fear of being elevated to a status that you were not prepared for overnight, fear of not being respected, fear of breaking the law so as to not compromise your beliefs and values, fear for your life, fear of rejection, fear of the truth coming to light, or fear of groups of people that are united together against you. You get the idea.
The story of Esther has all these elements of fear running through it, but not one mention of God. I find that interesting. I think all of us can relate to at least one of the fears listed above. I also think the things listed above are fears that often come when God asks us to do something or calls us into something new. These are natural human responses to being called out of our comfort zones. We can respond by running away from it and trying to forget about it, or we can look it straight in the eyes and rise to the challenge.
Here’s the thing, Esther was in a perfect position to run away from it and forget about it. She was in a palace for goodness sake! She was queen! She never had to even step outside if she didn’t want to. She certainly never had to face Mordecai again after he told her the news and asked for her help. She doesn’t run though. She chooses to face it and rise to the challenge.
Mordecai offers up two important things that you would do well to remember when faced with fear in verse 14 of chapter 4. The first is that God has chosen you to accomplish this task of His, but you are not the only person that He can use. Don’t think so highly of yourself as to think that if you refuse, His plans will not be accomplished. He is not asking you to do this because He has no other choice. He is asking you to do this because you are His choice.
Mordecai tells Esther, “If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die.” I read that as, “If you choose to disobey at a time like this, I will use someone else to accomplish My plan, but your faith will die a little bit” as it pertains to God asking me to step out of my comfort zone and into obedience. When we take an uncomfortable step of obedience, God stretches and grows our faith. Steps of obedience are never taken in vain. They are always accompanied by blessings, stronger faith, and a deeper relationship with God. I don’t think I know anyone that would want to miss out on that.
The second thing that Mordecai points out to Esther is even more important for you to remember when facing fear in my opinion. He says, “Who knows if perhaps you were made to be queen for just such a time as this?” Translation: Look at everything you have been through thus far; do you really think all of that had no meaning or purpose?
Are you so focused on just surviving this life that you never stop to think about why you have had to endure the things you have or how the pains of your past might be used for good in the future?
Your life is not a random assortment of events, friend. There is purpose in your pain. Your Heavenly Father created you on purpose, for a purpose. Don’t ever let anyone convince you of something different. The things you have had to walk through in this life were not by chance. Each time you awaken to a new day, God is preparing you. God sees the whole plan, beginning to end. God knows what following His path will require of you, and He loves you too much to allow you to walk into it unprepared.
Can I be honest with you? Sometimes it feels like God does not have my best interest at heart. Sometimes life just feels unfair for me. I have found myself asking God, “why me?” many times. I have been caught in the comparison trap more times than I would like to admit. I have often thought that I was not good enough, strong enough, talented enough, smart enough, etc to do what was being asked of me. I go back to this verse when I find myself in those places. This verse reminds me that, while I will never be able to see the whole picture, I have a God that can. I can trust that He knows what He is doing. I can trust that He has a better plan than I do. I can trust that He has put me in the right position to accomplish His goal. I can trust that He has prepared me, even and especially when it doesn’t feel like it, because He loves me too much not to. This is what prevents me from forgetting everything and running. This knowledge is what strengthens me to follow Queen Esther’s lead and face everything and rise.