๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Are you a risk-taker or are you someone who tends to stay on the safer side? Share an instance that shows this.ย
โข Was there a time when you had to do something even though it was inconvenient for you? Tell us about it.
โข When making tough decisions, do you think twice or do you stick to your original choice? What causes you to do so?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
โ๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จโ๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จโ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ธโ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ณ๐ต๐บ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด.โย ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฐ:๐ญ๐ญ
(Read also ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฐ:๐ญ๐ฎ-๐ญ๐ณ.)
When the Persians ruled over the Israelites, a beautiful, young woman named Esther found favor in the eyes of the king and was chosen to become queen. Haman, one of the kingโs officials, became angry with Mordecai, Estherโs cousin, and plotted to destroy him and all the Jews by making a decree. Though all seemed lost, God providentially used Esther to save His people. Today, letโs look at Estherโs crazy faith to go and speak up anyway and do what was right, even if it could have led to her death.
๐ญ. ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ฝ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐.
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ช ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ด๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ช ๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ด๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, โ๐๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จโ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ด๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณโ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด?โย ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฐ:๐ญ๐ฎ-๐ญ๐ฐ
Mordecai was greatly troubled when he heard about the new law plotted by Haman. He sought help from his niece, Esther, and challenged her to speak to the king. Mordecai spurred Esther to maximize her position to save Godโs people. Sometimes, when God places us in areas of influence, He sends people like Mordecai to challenge us and stir our faith so that we can fulfill what God has called us to do. Who are the people you listen to? How have they challenged you to walk in Godโs ways?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ด๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ช, โ๐๐ฐ, ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ข, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ง, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด, ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ. ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ฐ. . . .โ ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฐ:๐ญ๐ฑ-๐ญ๐ฒ
Esther knew that this struggle was neither hers nor Mordecaiโs alone. The lives of her fellow Jews were also on the line. It would take the whole Jewish community to stand in prayer so that the situation would be overturned in their favor. They fasted and put their faith in God together. How does your community help each other in times of need?
๐ฏ. ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ฒ๐ฑ.
โ. . . ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ธ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ง ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ, ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ.โ ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฐ:๐ญ๐ฒ
During Estherโs time, those who entered the kingโs court without being called upon would be put to deathโunless the king would say otherwise. It was a risk that Esther was willing to take. But because she found favor with the king, she was able to speak to him and eventually told him about Hamanโs plot. In response, the king reversed the law and the Jews were spared. As we go through life, we will face challenges in our resolve to do what is right, even when it could cost us everything. Thankfully, God is the author and perfecter of our faith who can bring reversals even in impossible situations. What is one risk you took as a step of faith? What was the outcome?
Though Godโs name wasnโt mentioned in the book of Esther, He was very much present all throughout and working in the background for the deliverance of His people. Even today, where overwhelming circumstances seem to drown out the presence and voice of God, we can put our faith and trust in Him, knowing that He is working in our hearts so that He may be glorified.
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Today, how can you step out in faith despite the risks you may face?
โข Is there a place or position God is calling you to? How can you honor God and walk in faith through those areas?
โข What are some things you can do to surround yourself with people who help provoke your faith? What community of prayer are you part of in this season?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for giving each of us a unique calling and purpose. Thank Him for placing people in our lives to help us fulfill His purpose.
โข Ask God to give you the faith to obey His word at all costs. Pray for boldness and a strong resolve.ย
โข Pray that God would use you to help the people around you in their time of need. Pray that you would not shy away from being salt and light to them.