Greatness

Esther: Trust, 8 May 2011

Big Idea: If you trust God, He can use you to change the world!

Greatness

You were created with value, dignity and worth...for a purpose. That purpose may be clear to you or you may be clueless. Regardless, God has blessed us with this life, this day, this breath.

For Such A Time As This

Andy Warhol famously said that everyone gets...15 minutes of fame. Rarely do we know when that moment will occur. Sure, Michael Phelps recognized as he traveled to the 2008 Olympic games that he would be on the world stage. Yes, Barack Obama knew on election day that he would be in the spotlight. Most of us, however, cannot anticipate our one shining moment.

Be Prepared

The key to greatness is not to seek it, but to be ready. The Boy Scout motto is...be prepared. Do people take CPR classes in order to save a life on a pre-determined day? Of course not. Do you buy a fire extinguisher for a particular event? No! You want to be ready.

Esther

Today we continue our series The Secret That Changes Everything. I’ll tell you the secret right now:

If you trust God, He can use you to change the world.

You. Not the person beside you. Not that celebrity you saw on TV, your favorite author, or a rock star. You. But you must be ready.

The Story

The story of Esther has been immortalized by films such as

One Night With The King and, of course, the Veggie Tales classic Esther: The Girl Who Became Queen.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, here’s a summary:

After a six-month drinking feast, a drunk king summons his wife. The queen refused to come so the king forbids her from ever entering his presence and begins the search for a new queen.

A beautiful orphan girl, Esther, becomes the queen after more than a year of beauty treatments and overnight “interviews” with the king.

Her cousin, Mordecai, learns of a plan by Haman to destroy the Jewish people. Mordecai tells Esther to help by seeking the king’s help. She sends a message back to Mordecai and says

“All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he be put to death. The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.” - Esther 4:11

When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. - Esther 4:12-13

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” - Esther 4:14

Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” - Esther 4:15-16

In a surprising turn of events, Mordecai is honored and Haman’s plan to destroy the Jews is exposed by Esther at dinner.

So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther, and as they were drinking wine on that second day, the king again asked, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted.”

Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life — this is my petition. And spare my people — this is my request. For I and my people have been sold for destruction and slaughter and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.”

King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is the man who has dared to do such a thing?”

Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this vile Haman.”

Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.

Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.

The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”

As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A gallows seventy-five feet high stands by Haman’s house. He had it made for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”

The king said, “Hang him on it!” So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.

- Esther 7:1-10

The Feast Of Purim

Thousands of years later, the Jews continue to celebrate the feast of Purim to remember Esther’s courage to approach the king and deliver the Jewish people from Haman’s plot to destroy them.

Earlier I said that the secret is “If you trust God, He can use you to change the world!”

What is God calling you to do?


It might not be something heroic like saving the lives of thousands of people, but it may be to share your 2WordStory and be used by God to save the eternal life of a friend, neighbor or co-worker.

This week a friend told me he was way beyond his comfort zone in sharing his faith with a friend. He said he was on the verge of giving up, but I encouraged him to press on.

If you can do it, it’s probably not God’s will.
If you can’t do it, it probably is God’s will.

God has a habit of using ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. - 1 Corinthians 1:26-29

You are here for a purpose, and it is to know God and make Him known.

The problem is we fear for our future and we have trouble trusting God with the things we can’t control. While most of us wrestle with this tension, it is certainly true for moms. It was true for Esther as well. Mordeci convinced Esther that she was in her role for a purpose and a reason (like every Mom). She was told she was good enough to perform the task even when facing fearful circumstances that could have cost her life.

The secret is trust. Trust God to take care of you when you need Him the most.

God can be trusted. He can be trusted in the midst of the storms of life. He can be trusted in sickness and in health, in wealth and poverty, in life and death.

The secret is “If you trust God, He can use you to change the world!”

Greatness

As I said earlier, you were created with value, dignity and worth...for a purpose. That purpose may be clear to you or you may be clueless. Regardless, God has blessed you with this life, this day, this breath. He has created you for such a time as this. Now it’s time to seize this moment and change the world.

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