A
Nation Under Siege
Gtcotr/ss110616
The
Character: Esther
What
can we do when we feel as though our nation and our people are under siege and
those in leadership do not have the either God’s or the people’s best interest
in their hearts?
Esther
is a prime example of someone God can use in times of crisis within a nation
and when the leadership of the nation apparently care more for their own
position and promotion than for the safety, security and future of the nation.
The
well placed account of Esther teaches us that:
1.
God equips the called … He does not call the equipped.
a. A calling is an
invitation from God to come and be set aside to be prepared to serve.
b. Esther was called
and then she was
i. prepared
ii. positioned
c. This all took time
and attention --- It takes time to be equipped
2 Timothy 2
1 You therefore, my son, be
strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that you
have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will
be able to teach others also.
In
Esther’s case it years of God working in her life and bringing her to the place
where she had a chance to shine. No doubt that the God who knows the end from
the beginning was working all things together in her life to bring her to her
appointment with destiny. She was called by God a long time before she was
called by the King.
2.
It is the ordinary that gets us ready for the extraordinary.
a. The ordinary every
day, day in and day out, hum drum duties of life prepare us to be the greatest
us we can be.
b. The greatest you
will ever be is you being great at being you.
c. God made you and you
will never truly master anything greater than being you.
d. God has a plan and a
need for someone just like you … it’s you!
Esther 4
13 And Mordecai told them
to answer Esther: "Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the
king’s palace any more than all the other Jews.
14 "For if you remain
completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews
from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows
whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
3.
Have faith despite the trials of life.
a. Esther had a life
filled with trials but she continued to trust God.
b. But after all, she
was the great, great, great granddaughter of Abraham.
Romans 4
19 And not being weak in
faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a
hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
20 He did not waver at the
promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to
God,
21 and being fully convinced
that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
22 And therefore "it was
accounted to him for righteousness."
Esther
teaches us that:
·
God
has a plan
·
He
is prepared
·
Everything
can change in one moment
Let’s
continue to trust God and perhaps do what Esther asked her friends and family
to do in that all critical moment for her nation and her people:
Esther 4
15 Then Esther told them
to reply to Mordecai:
16 "Go, gather all the
Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink for
three days, night or day. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go
to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!"
17 So Mordecai went his way
and did according to all that Esther commanded him.
I
am going to ask you to join me on this coming Tuesday, November 8th,
for a day of prayer and fasting.
·
Pray
for our nation.
·
Pray
for those whom God may use.
·
Fast
one meal that day and pray for our election process and that the people God
wants to serve in the offices of our local and national politics will get
elected.
o Breakfast
o Lunch
o Dinner
·
Spend
that time in prayer
·
Let’s
humble ourselves before God on this critical day.
