Yesterday I posted a blog that I entitled “Outside the Four Walls.” I have entitled this devotional “Part II” as it goes along with yesterday’s message. (I realize that my blogs are pretty long, I have not perfected the art of editing. I apologize for the length)
This morning as I drove to school, I was really seeking God telling Him that I want so much to be a witness for Him. As I sit in my office waiting for students to come visit during my office hours, I am reading the book of Esther. Although I have read it many times, it is speaking to me in a way it has not done before. I want to share with you, what I believe God is telling me.
Most of us know the story of Esther so I am not going to spend time recapping what is going on. There are three points that I hope to make in this devotional:
1. Going against what has not been done before is a risky thing
2. God has placed us in the position we are in right now so that we can go against tradition and make a difference
3. If we remain silent He will call someone else to do what He has originally called us to do
Going against what has not been done before is a risky thing-
Mordecai sent word to Esther of a plot to kill all the Jews. He instructed her to go to the king and make supplication for the Jewish people. In verse 11 Esther sends word back informing Mordecai that she can not do this because: “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king, who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter, that he may live. Yet I myself have not been called to go in to the king these thirty days.” In other words, Esther told Mordecai, “what you want me to do, I can not do because it is against custom, against tradition.”
This verse struck me as I read it because I often think that God is calling us to do certain things, but because they are against custom, tradition and have never been done before, we tell Him, “We can not do it.” God is telling us to begin a Christian club at our school, but because it has not been done before, we can not do it. God is telling us to start a prayer ministry at our workplace, but because it has not been done before, we can not do it. God is calling us to have Bible Study in our neighborhood, but because it has not been done before, we can not do it. God is telling us to speak to that young mother in the grocery store and tell her that God loves her, but because it has not been done before, we can not do it. God is telling us to ask the waitress at the restaurant if we can pray for her, but because it has not been done before, we can not do it. God is calling the college student to major in politics so that they can become an Apostolic senator, but because it has not been done before, we can not do it. God is calling the college student to become a professor so they can teach at Yale, but because it has not been done before, we can not do it. God is calling the business person to ask their employer for a donation for the church, but because it has not been done before, we can not do it. God is calling you as a female to do something, but because a female has never done it, we can not do it.
Esther told Mordecai if a person goes to the king without being called, they will be put to death. She understood the need was great; the Jewish people were going to get killed, but stepping out would be a great risk. She was unwilling to take that risk. Likewise, we might not fear literal death but we fear what will happen if we step out. We see the need, we see what needs to be done, but because it has not been done, or more specifically it is against custom we let fear stop us.
That brings me to my second point: God has placed us in the position we are in right now so that we can go against that tradition and make a difference.
Mordecai sends word to Esther “…Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” In other words, he tells Esther, “you wondered why you were plucked from your family, you wondered why you were placed in the king’s palace, you wondered what was the purpose of all of that. This is the purpose. You were placed in the palace to save the Jewish people.” Likewise, I believe the place where we are in life is no accident, God has placed us there for a reason. There is a reason why you are working in the company you are working in, there is a reason you are going to the school you are going to, there is a reason you sit next to the girl you sit next to in Math class, there is a reason you live next to the person you live next to, there is a reason why your cubicle is where it is. I will even say there is a reason why you have the waitress you do when you go out to eat, there is a reason you have the checkout lady at the grocery store when you go shopping, there is a reason you have the teller you do when you go to the bank. There is a reason why you are where you are in life, and a reason why you come in contact with the people you come in contact with. God has a purpose that He wants to fulfill through you.
Lastly, If we remain silent He will call someone else to do what He has originally called us to do.
Ultimately it is our choice what we are going to do. God called Jeremiah to be a prophet, but Jeremiah had the choice as to whether he was going to accept that call. Likewise, Esther had the choice, she could have told Mordecai, “I understand what you are saying, I know the need, I understand the urgency of this, but I am not willing to do it.” We all have a choice as well. When we sit next to the student who is always talking about partying, we have a choice, to remain silent, or tell them about a God who they need to serve. When we hear our co-worker talking about getting a divorce from her husband, we have a choice, we can remain silent, or we can tell her about a God who can restore marriages. When we hear our neighbor talking about being depressed, we can remain silent, or we can tell them about a God of joy. When we know our classmates don’t believe in God, we have a choice, we can remain silent, or we can tell them that there is a God. When we are in the grocery store and there is someone who is standing in front of us, we have a choice, we can remain silent, or we can smile and tell them that God loves them. When we are in the restaurant and a burden for our waitress comes upon us, we have a choice, we can remain silent, or we can ask her if we can pray for her. When we are enrolled in school and it gets difficult, but we know God is calling us to major in something that no Apostolic has ever majored in, we have a choice we can remain silent and not do it, or we can step out believing that God has a purpose for where we are.
Mordecai sent word to Esther saying, “If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place.” In other words, he informed Esther God’s purpose was going to be fulfilled. After reading this you might think that gets you off the hook. IF you don’t tell your classmate about God, someone else will. If you don’t tell your neighbor about God, someone else will. If you don’t major in that particular field, someone else will. God’s purpose will be fulfilled regardless. But look at what Mordecai says “but you and your father’s house will perish.” Ultimately, Mordecai was saying, “Esther if you choose to remain silent, the people will be spared, but your life will be lost. ” I don’t think God is going to take our lives for not witnessing to our neighbor, or speaking to the person in the grocery store, or encouraging our classmate, but I do think this verse is telling us that we will be held responsible if we do not speak out. That we will be held accountable for remaining silent.
Ultimately, Esther did not let the fear keep her from doing God’s will. In the end she said “And I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.” This is what we need to do, we need to say “I will go against custom, I will go against tradition, I will do what has not been done before. If they make fun of me, they make fun of me. If they mock me, they mock me. If they tell me I am too radical, they tell me I am too radical. If they look at me crazy, they look at me crazy.” But they might just receive what you have to say. That waitress might just tell you that they need prayer. That co-worker might just tell you that she has noticed your walk and has been praying that God would speak to her through you. That classmate might tell you that their whole life they have never felt love, and this love of God that you talk about they want. The person in the grocery store might tell you that they have been so lonely and so depressed and just by you saying how are you doing, has greatly encouraged them. We need to step out, because in the end, Esther did not perish, she saved her people. In the end, God will use you to bring others to know Him.
The things we do within the four walls of the church are crucial. It is important that we have a choir, that we have musicians, that we have praise singers, that we have preachers, that we have altar workers, that we have ushers, Sunday School teachers, ministers, pastors, etc., those are essential and our church is dependent upon those ministries. But we need to look beyond the four walls of the church. It is what we do outside the four walls that matters that most. It does not matter if we jump and shout for hours on end, if we never witness. It does not matter if we are active in every ministry in our church, if no one we come in contact with on a daily basis knows that we are Christian. I think for too long we have focused our attention within the four walls, and God is calling us to re-focus. He is drawing our eyes to the world.
Going outside the four walls of the church means that we need to reevaluate what a ministry is. Ministry is more than just singing in the choir, being a musician, giving a conference and preaching. Don’t get me wrong, I believe those are so essential, but there are other things that God wants us to do as well. This past year, God has given me the opportunity to speak at different youth regional’s and I am so honored that I have had the opportunity because I have a passion for what I am doing, but as I have gone to each youth regional, in my heart I have prayed to God telling Him I want more than just this. I want to do more than just speak to Apostolic young people, I want more than just to go to different youth services and minister there, I want to go outside the four walls of the church.
I have come in contact with many young people and I will ask them what they want to do and many times they tell me they want to be a soloist, they want to be a praise singer, they want to be a minister, they want to be a pastor’s wife, etc., those are great things to aspire to, but there is so much more. There is so much more that God wants us to do. I have said this many times before, but sometimes we get so caught up in titles and we think titles make and define us. It breaks my heart, and honestly makes me sick to my stomach when I hear about people who plot and scheme and devise ways so that they can get a title. It hurts when I hear of people who think that the title defines who they are. We have for too long elevated certain things above others, we have said that certain ministries are more important than others, but this is so dangerous. Doing this is keeping us from seeing that God wants to use us outside the four walls of the church. Our eyes have focused on certain ministries within the church and we think if we have this ministry we will be someone special, but this is such a false mentality to have.
I believe God is asking us to reevaluate our purpose, reevaluate what we are doing. We might be doing many things within the church, but I believe God is asking what we are doing outside the four walls of the church. I am not even talking about door knocking and passing out tracts, I am talking about praying that God gives us a burden for the lost. I am talking about when we are in the grocery store, praying that God would give us words to speak to someone, I am talking about when we are in school, praying that God would direct us to someone who is searching for truth, I am talking about when we are in college, that we would pray that God would direct us to a major where we can be a light for him, I am talking about when we are walking in our neighborhood that God would give us the courage to ask our neighbor if they have any prayer requests, I am talking about in our work place that we pray that God would speak through us to our co-workers. We have power to reach the lost, but I know for myself, many times fear keeps me from utilizing that power.
Let me say this again as I close this devotional: titles within the church mean nothing. Positions within the church are meaningless. You can be the best praise singer, the best usher, the greatest conference giver, the most powerful preacher, the choir director, etc., but none of that matters if those who you come in contact with on a daily basis don’t know that you are a Christian. I realize that some might disagree with me on this one and I am not saying those things within the church are not important, because I think that they are, but I think our focus has been on those things for too long and consequently we have not focused on what it is occurring outside the four walls. I am talking to myself today and this has been a burden that God has placed in my heart concerning my own life and what I am not doing. I am in no way pointing fingers, if anything I am pointing them at myself. Although my classmates and my family know what I believe in, I know I can be doing so much more. My prayer is that God would use me outside the four walls of the church, I pray that my life would be defined not by just going to church, just dancing and shouting, just giving conferences, but that my life would be defined by what I am doing for God outside the four walls of the church, I pray that you would make that your prayer as well.