Faith is a decision

Scripture Read: Esther 4:15-17 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, ¹⁶ “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.” ¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.

Application: Faith or resolution, which comes first Lord? Do we make a decision first and then faith takes us through it, or do we trust in You, Lord, first and then find the willpower to follow through is there? Perhaps there is no way to really measure it unless we are You Lord. We are not, so what we should do instead is see how they work in relation to each other so we can do the same.  We see that Esther understands the danger she is in if she follows Mordecai’s request, yet she also understands it was the hand of God who put her in the position she now occupies during the time of this crisis. Add to that what must be a character trait of Esther to stand for what is right and the end result is not surprising. She reaches out in faith to our Lord by requesting all those involved to seek Him in fasting. She shows us an example of her faith through her action. For three days all will seek Your help Lord, then Esther will approach the King. Notice her resolve – much like Daniels three friends:

Daniel 3:14–18 (NASB95)  Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? ¹⁵ “Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?” ¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. ¹⁷ “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. ¹⁸ “But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

This is when we really find out what we believe. When we are in a situation that is clearly beyond our abilities to solve… if we turn to You Lord, and follow through on our commitment, not seeing how our situation will be resolved, our faith in Him is confirmed, to ourselves and to those around watching. Esther is our example of holding onto the mercy of our Lord, counting solely on You Lord, not her position, looks, personality or the King. Showing complete dependence upon You and You alone. There is nothing harder for us to do nor more attractive to our Lord. Father, You love to show us Your great and wonderful deliverance and grace, but we often do not place ourselves in the position to see it. Lord we know You desire us to use our commonsense, getting ourselves into problems because of sloppy living and then expecting You to get us out of it, is not what we are talking about here. When we walk close to You and the path still leads over and off the cliff of safety, that is when we must trust You and watch You take us through. Help us, oh Lord, for we are only clay, we need Your strength in this world we live.

Meditation Questions: When was the last time you believed something from God that only He could accomplish? To you try and see the end of something before you make a decision? What does that say? Are you trying in your own power to believe God? How can you receive power from Him to believe in Him?