“If I Perish, I Perish”

Then Esther spoke to Hathach and gave him a message for Mordecai, saying, “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law – all alike are to be put to death. Only if the king holds out the golden scepter to someone, may that person live. I myself have not been called to come in to the king for thirty days.” When they told Mordecai what Esther had said, Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.” Then Esther said in reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa and hold a fast on my behalf, and neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will also fast as you do. After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.” Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Esther 4:10-17

We all have people who come into our lives at exactly the right moment. Why do you think that is? It is because God always provides for us in His time, no matter what.

The book of Esther tells another story of love, sacrifice, and God’s timing. Mordecai, a Jew in exile, refused to bow to Haman, who was second in command to the king. Haman became furious and plotted to kill Mordecai and all the Jews. So Haman deceived the king and persuaded him to issue an edict condemning the Jews to death. When Mordecai told his cousin Queen Esther about the edict, he urged her to intervene. Approaching the king uninvited was punishable by death. But Esther seized the moment to save her people! When we are able to rescue others, we should do so at all costs. Ask God for His direction and act! He may have placed you at this spot in His time.

Courage is not the absence of fear – it is the mastery of it.

Our Daily Bread – June 13, 2008