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If you haven’t read the book of Esther, I encourage you do so. Esther was faced with a challenge to go and share with the King that something was going to happen to her people. She told the King “My people are at risk. They are going to be completely taken away from the earth. There is a death wish on my life.” Her bold and courageous actions put her in a position of risking her own life. There is a part toward the end of the book of Esther where Mordecai, her cousin, who is taking care of her, the one who has told her of the plot to kill the Jews, tells her you can choose to remain silent.
Like Esther it is actually your right as well. But rest assured that God’s purpose will prevail because he has a promised plan for us. And you are able to determine, in this critical moment, how your actions, or the lack there of, will influence the course of your history or simply tuck you away in its shadows.
Esther with faith, courage and conviction replies, “I will rise. I will speak out. I will respectfully push back.” I am so inspired by Esther’s response here. You know why? Because she recognized that she had something to lose, and she was willing to lose that in order to gain a partnership with God and become a liberator.
So often we navigate this world only thinking about gains. What am I going to accomplish? What am I going to get out of this? What am I going to receive in return? And yet so often we fail to consider what we could lose. And that is equally, if not more important, than considering our gains. Esther had the very lives of her people in her hands, and she was willing to say that she was not willing to risk that loss.
When you think about your day-to-day life, what are you actually losing? It may not be as significant as what Esther was about to lose, but maybe it is time with your family, or time with the Lord. Or maybe it is the opportunity to do something else.
So, I would encourage you, as you face your decisions, to be bold and courageous, and don’t forget to consider the losses as well. Maybe, just maybe, there are actually losses you are not willing to incur.
(If you would like the devotional for the entire week, click here.)