Esther was afraid. Speaking up could cause conflict in her marriage and possibly cost her her life. It was against the law to approach the king uninvited; if Xerxes wanted, he could end her life. All this could happen, and the edict could still remain intact. Mordecai reminds her that fear shouldn’t dictate her decisions for some very important reasons.
Esther 4:12-14 says:
Esther’s response was reported to Mordecai. Mordecai told the messenger to reply to Esther, “Don’t think that you will escape the fate of all the Jews because you are in the king’s palace. If you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s family will be destroyed. Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this.”
When we understand that our calling is a gift from God, we will live a purposeful life as we live in the sweet spot of our calling. This may mean that we thrive in a certain vocation, or we step up and raise awareness about a ministry focused on pursuing change. Leaning into our calling may help us develop new relationships and build authority and trust with people in our community. Investing in others and loving them with the heart of Jesus is always beneficial to God’s kingdom. But it isn’t always a natural first choice.
Just like Esther, we may be in a situation where we don’t like the choices in front of us, but that doesn’t mean that walking through a challenging obstacle in the short term won’t bring us long-term joy and peace! More than that, when we embrace our calling, we have the opportunity to flourish in partnership with God.
- Have you ever stopped to consider that the purpose of your calling could have a generational impact?
- Could your choice to engage with the people in front of you in a meaningful way have a Kingdom impact?
- Could choosing God’s way may be more about living a purposeful life than we admit?
- What are some ways that you are intentionally living a purposeful life?
You Don’t Need to Walk Alone
As Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20), we’re all called to “make disciples of all nations” wherever we live. God invites us to partner with him and live on mission every day, even in the mundane moments of life. We do this when we love people as Jesus taught the disciples to do, without stipulations.
Embracing Holy Interruptions: How Jesus Used Mundane Moments to Love People Deeply is a six-week Bible study that teaches people how to develop a disciple-making movement.
This is not a step-by-step instruction manual.
Jesus modeled using mundane moments to love people, build tension, and point them to God in a way that caused many of them to step from a curiosity about God to a fully surrendered faith. We can adapt his methods and learn from the examples in the Gospels today. This study aims to help people keep their eyes on Jesus and improve their inductive Bible reading skills while also learning to love their neighbors to the best of their ability. This 6-week study is available in both print and Kindle formats.