Every time I hear this song, I feel His strength rise up inside of me. No matter what I may have to face today, He will be with me. He never lets go.
Seriously, if God is with me, whom then shall I fear?
http://youtu.be/RB1NJV3rG6k - You Never Let Go - Matt Redman
Doing hard things
Esther 4:14For 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?”
Has God placed you in a situation that is uncomfortable? A place that makes you vulnerable to the attack of others? Just like He did with Esther, He sometimes gives us opportunities to be His special instrument. Listening to His Voice instead of the lies of Satan is not always easy to do. To discern truth from lies, we must ask ourselves which "Voice" is more in line with God's written Word. Which direction will promote God's purpose? Which voice speaks of God's character?
Do not be afraid of man who can only destroy the body.
Mt 10:28
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
We must be willing to do the hard things. God tells us over and over again: "Don't be afraid", "Fear not! I am with you.", "Be courageous!" I can't begin to list all the times God tells us to be strong in His mighty power. He's saying "I'm right here next to you. I am not going to leave you alone to fight this battle. You will win because I'll be fighting for you." He's promised to be with us. Almighty God, Creator of the Universe has promised to get us through any struggle, so why are we afraid to go where He leads us?
My grand kids love being in the pool. Every year, the first time they go down the slide, they're a little afraid. They're not too sure they have the ability to get to the side of the pool after they hit the water. But each year, their dad is there at the bottom of the slide, waiting, ready to whisk them out of the water if they get into trouble. In the beginning, there's lots of conversation about how they can trust their dad to keep them safe. Eventually, they take that leap of faith, and of course, Dad is there, just like he promised.
Our Father has promised to stand by us, to catch us when we might fall. He even promises to keep our feet from stumbling. Just like my grand kids trust their father, we, too, can trust our Father.
It helps me to remember how God has empowered those who have gone before.
Esther, Moses, Joshua, Gideon and many others were called to do things that were not in their comfort zones. They were asked to put themselves in dangerous positions, to speak truth, to go forth into battle when they felt totally inadequate to do so. One of my favorite stories is of Gideon.
Gideon was chosen by God to lead the Israelites against their enemy, the Midianites. He was a reluctant hero. The Angel of the LORD (some believe this was Jesus himself) appeared to Gideon as he was threshing wheat in a wine-press. This is our first clue that Gideon was afraid of the Midianites. The wine press was a much less vulnerable place than the threshing-floor. Threshing wheat was normally done in the open where the wind blowing through the wheat could help separate the wheat from the chaff. The wine press would most likely have troughs and tunnels - low lying areas. Working in the wine press would offer less visibility for the enemy compared to the threshing floor. So, it's likely that Gideon was trying to hide from the Midianites.
But the Angel of the LORD called out to Gideon, "The LORD is with you, mighty man of valor!". I'm guessing Gideon wasn't feeling very courageous at that point. After all, he was hiding from the enemy. We look at Gideon in that wine press, and our reaction might not be "Here's the man who will lead the Israelites against their enemy!" But God doesn't look at the outside. He looks at the heart. When He looked at Gideon, HE saw a man who would be willing to trust HIM for the strength and power needed to lead the Israelites. And Gideon became a a mighty man of valor through the power of Almighty God.
2 Corinthians 12:9
9 But he said to me, "My grace is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak."
We can be mighty men (and women) of valor, too, when we put our trust in God. I love the passage in 2 Corinthians 12:9. Paul tells us that God's grace is sufficient - all we need. And when we feel weak and ineffective, that's our cue to put our complete trust in HIM. Then we are acting with His Strength, not our own. So when we are weak, that's when we are strongest.
2 Corinthians 12:9b-10
So I am very happy to brag about how weak I am. Then Christ's power can rest on me. 10 Because of how I suffered for Christ, I'm glad that I am weak. I am glad in hard times. I am glad when people say mean things about me. I am glad when things are difficult. And I am glad when people make me suffer. When I am weak, I am strong.
HE's giving you an opportunity to be His hands and feet in a situation, He knows your heart. He knows you will be willing to trust Him. No, you can't do it on your own, but you won't have to. HE will be your strength.
The Lord is with you, mighty man of valor!
If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room,
I would not fear a million enemies.
Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.
- Robert Murray M'Cheyne
For such a time as this?
13 Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. 14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” Esther 4:13-14
Difficulties and obstacles are God's challenges to faith. When hindrances confront us in the path of duty, we are to recognize them as vessels for faith to fill with the fullness and all-sufficiency of Jesus; and as we go forward, simply and fully trusting Him, we may be tested, we may have to wait and let patience have her perfect work; but we shall surely find at last the stone rolled away, and the Lord waiting to render unto us double for our time of testing. --A. B. Simpson
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