Trusting God and Taking a Risky Step of Faith

Tony Evans: Today, Dr. Evans preaches from the book of Esther chapters 3-4 and how we can know when to take a risky step of faith and trust God even when the outcome isn’t guaranteed. How do we know if we’ve been created “for such a time as this”?

Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.

It is unfortunate that many people and Christians will have spent a large part of their lives climbing the ladder of success only to discover at the end that it was leaning against the wrong wall.
In an effort to meet the standards of our world system and what it calls success many will have missed the purposes of god.
They will have perhaps been very great in their careers and in their education and with their resources.
But will stand before god never having finished or destiny, your divinely designed reason for being once you become a Christian.
The reason why we were not raptured at the moment of conversion was that god left us here for the achievement and the accomplishment of a kingdom purpose.
Unfortunately today, it is easy to get caught up in the wrong purpose.
The purposes of people, possessions, paychecks, power, popularity, and maybe we sprinkle a little piety in to make a feel a little better.
It is easy to live the life that we live without the right end game in mind.
Like the man who said, I was dying to finish high school so that I could go to college I was dying to finish college so that I could start my career.
I was dying to get married so that I could start a family I was dying for those kids to become 18 so that they could leave.
I was dying to retire only to discover now. I’m just dying.
And the sense of purpose is gone.
That leads us to our 2 chapters today.
Chapters 34 of the book of Esther.
Because it is in these chapters that the greatest statement and the most famous statement in the book is located in chapter 4 verse 14.
When Mordic, I ask her the question, have you not attained royalty for such a time as this?
Or as the king game says, have you not been called to the kingdom for such a time as this?
So I want to explain to you using the providential hand of god and the life of Esther how you know when it’s your time.
You hear people talk about it’s my time. It’s my season.
And that’s easy to say and quote, but how do you know when god has prepared you for the moment?
That time that he has worked with you for through the good, the bad, and the ugly, to bring you to a space of usefulness for his Kingdom Purposes.
What chapter 4 opens up with a problem because we’re told in chapter, excuse me, chapter 3 opens up with a problem because we’re told in chapter 3 verse 1 after these events, Kenya Hazer Wearers promotes Haman, the son of Hamidiyafa, the aggregate, and advanced him and established his authority over the princesses were with him, and all the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Hammond but Mordicae neither bow nor did he pay homage.
Houston, we have a problem.
A Hazuaras, the king has decided to elevate a man named Hayman.
Hammond is made the 2nd most powerful person in the Meado Persian empire.
And the king has said, I want that to be public recognition of the promotion that I’ve given to Hammond So I want everybody in the kingdom to bow.
And so as everybody began to bow, then they came to one of the employees of the king named Mortacai.
And they said, mordecai, it’s time to bow. Mister Hammond is coming down. Mister Hammond is passing through.
More the car says, uh, excuse me, but I can’t do that.
Uh, I can’t bow and pay homage. I cannot worship him. I can respect him.
I can, uh, uh, you know, affirm him, but what you’re asking me to do is bow down and pay homage.
You’re calling for an act of worship, and I can’t do that.
So what a car refuses, Houston, we have a problem.
They wanna know verse 3, how are you transgressing the king’s command?
Let me put it in everyday language. How are you not doing what the government told you to do?
Because this is the king talking. This is governmental affairs.
And I I say, look, this is the government we expect you to obey the government.
Well, uh, obey the government is one thing. Worshiping and bowing to it. That’s a whole another ball game.
And Monica says I can’t do that. They spoke to him daily according to verse 4.
They told Hayman, that’s his dude named Mordicott, and he’s not gonna bow, but let me tell you why he’s not gonna bow.
He’s a Jew. And then people over there, they’ve been taught by, you know, their world view that you do not bow that is in worship, to men or to systems of men, governments when they conflict with their belief system.
And so this mordecai is not gonna bow.
Haymon, verse 5, was full of rage. Kicked off.
He said, well, not only am I gonna kill verse 6 verse 6.
Not only am I gonna kill Mordicotte? I’m gonna kill all of his people.
I’m gonna do genocide against the Jews because I know all in people think like he think.
So we’re not gonna have that 9 under my rule.
King Ashworth has given me clout, and I’m not gonna have anybody around here not recognizing my authority.
So he’s gone, and everybody like him is gone. We’re gonna get rid of the juice.
He brings the idea to the king, Hajjouras.
And he tells the Hajjouras, Mister Hajjouras, King?
You got some people here who don’t go with you.
There there’s a certain people scattered and they don’t abide by your rules.
They don’t abide by your laws. Verse a.
And so he says, so King, we gotta do something about these folk.
So if it pleases the king verse 9, what I wanna do is I wanna get rid of them.
I wanna exterminate them because they’re gonna be a headache for you.
In fact, I wanna get rid of these people so bad verse 9.
That I will pay you to help get rid of them 10,000 talents of silver.
I’m gonna give you a boatload of money just to get rid of these people because these people are nothing but trouble because they’re not gonna bow.
They’re not gonna submit to the government they’re not gonna submit to the authority.
So the king put a signet ring down, signed the law of hamon, the Aggregate.
Let me pause. We’re told a couple of times in this passage, Hammond’s background, even aggregate.
Now that may not mean much to you, but god doesn’t waste words in his word.
This has a history to it. You see, the Aggregites came from AGAG.
AGAG is found in first time you’ll chapter 15 versus 1 to 23.
Agag is head of the amlicites, and the amlicites were trying to destroy the Jews many years ago when Saul was king in first Samuel 15.
God told Saul, I want you to go, and I want you to to destroy the amnokites, and I want to destroy the King a gang because these folks are trying to kill you.
But so thought he was too smart for god.
And he decided I’m not gonna kill the king. I’m gonna kill some of the stuff.
But I’m not gonna kill all of this stuff because because we can use some of this stuff.
So he disobeyed god. Agag was allowed to live longer. So his legacy was allowed to continue.
So now we in Esther with the fruit of a root of a same problem that wasn’t dealt with early.
So some of us know what it is to have something we should have dealt with.
Which we would have dealt with.
And if we would have dealt with it, we wouldn’t be dealing with this today.
But because we didn’t deal with it, when we should have dealt with it, we wind up with the fruit of it continuing in our life and circumstance.
So when it says that Hammond was an Agite, he’s telling you he’s part of a legacy of unaddressed sin, of unaddressed fully due dealing with something god told you to deal with long ago that you’re now having to deal with the repercussions of.
And so now, not only is mordecai in trouble.
The whole race of Jews is about to be exterminated. Okay? Here’s lesson number 1.
You know it’s your time.
You know it’s your time when god connects spiritual preparation with spiritual warfare. You see?
Hammond was an agent of the devil whose goal it is to thwart the purposes of god in the Old Testament it had to do with destroying the Jews.
In the new testament, it has to do with muting the effectiveness of the church.
The people representative people of god.
And so in order to pull that off, Satan uses people and use its systems in order to destroy the program and promises and purposes of god.
God had said, I’m gonna build this people, protect these people.
They are gonna be my people because the Messiah is gonna come through the Jews.
And so all along the way, There’s a theology of genocide and destruction trying to hinder the purposes of god.
Whenever god is getting ready to use someone, they will have a battle to overcome.
They will have spiritual warfare that will seek to destroy god’s program and purpose in your life and in the life of others because as you’ll see is not just about you.
He’s gonna get rid of Mordicite and all of the Jews.
Before David could be recognized to be the future king of Israel, he had to go through a battle first.
He had to face Goliath.
It wasn’t until he defeated Goliath, spiritual warfare, since it was a battle between god’s that he began to emerge as preparation for kingship.
But before god elevated him to ultimate purpose, he had to use him in spiritual So spiritual battle is always a prerequisite to spiritual purpose.
If you’re not willing to demonstrate that you’re willing to deal with the spiritual issues that Satan brings in your life to thwart your purpose and how god wants to use you for the benefit of others, then you’re not ready to be realized and set free for your ultimate spiritual purpose.
See, what god wants to know before he gives you spiritual responsibility is that he can trust you to use the spiritual when to go and get stuff.
He wants to know that the spiritual won’t be thrown aside when the natural shows up because it’s real easy when the natural that shows up to get natural.
It’s easy when the natural shows up to go secular.
But when the spiritual shows up because there is a spiritual issue of rewarding the program of god.
The question is, do you have insight enough to see what’s happening spiritually so that you have foretaste enough to address it spiritually.
So when god is gonna give you your time, that is the time to be released to your ultimate purpose, there will be a spiritual battle that you will have to not only fight but that you will have to make your declaration known.
And so now the Jews are about to be destroyed, The scribes in verse 12 send the word out.
The edict goes out about the destruction of the Jews letters are sent in verse 13 by carriers to all the provinces to destroy, to kill, and annihilate all the Jews, young, old, women, children, But we’re told that this happened was gonna happen in a 12 month cycle.
You see that in verse 7? You see that in verse 13.
It says the 12th month. Let me just throw this in.
If you look at verse 7, it says, per, p u r. That is the lot.
The lot. The lot is dice. K? Y’all know dice. Right? Come on.
Don’t act like y’all on no dice.
So Hammond is shaking the dice to determine Winnie’s gonna destroy them.
They came up 6 6 12 month. So the days got rolled.
It didn’t come up with 20 rolls. It didn’t come up with 1 and 1.
It came up with 6 and 6 because it’s 12 months. You see?
Even when Satan rolls the dice, god loads them.
Because god is so sovereign and providential, he controls the dice.
So there is a 12 month window between the time of the declaration and the time of the execution.
Whenever god creates a gap, when evil is about to occur, the gap is good news in a bad situation.
Remember he told Nineveh through Jonah in 40 days, Nineveh will be destroyed.
Why not just destroy him? Cause there’s a window.
There’s a window between judgment declared and judgment implemented.
Whenever god creates a window, you better praise him. Because a window is an opportunity.
It’s called a grace window.
It’s a window where god’s mercy and grace is still being allowed before destruction is implemented.
So that is a 12 month window, because god loaded the dice gave them the maximum amount of months within a year to address the problem of satanic influence to bring about a destruction in god’s people and on behalf of god’s program.
And so the saga continues of the Providential hand of god. The edict is given.
And when the edict is given, chapter 4 verse 1, when Mordicott learned that all of all that had been done, he tore his clothes.
Put on sackcloth and ashes, the garments of sorrow, and went out into the midst of the city and walked loudly, and wailed loudly and bitterly.
You could hear that man crying all over the place.
Because when Satan is trying to do a number on you, he can bring you the tears.
Many of us know what it is to have, uh, a spiritual warfare against us, and we’re weeping and wailing because the pain is so deep and so great.
He was out there loudly declaring, uh, a hopelessness because of how bad things look.
He went as far as the king’s gate the entrance to the king’s palace, and no one was to enter the king’s king’s gay clothes in sackcloth.
But there he was mourning with great mourning because we’re told in verse 15, there was great confusion.
You you’re a Jewish father sitting there with your family and you here come across the evening news.
All Jews are to be exterminated. That’s panic in the city of Susan.
And now everybody’s wailing because it looks like a hopeless situation. Let me tell you something.
Never count god out no matter how bad things look.
Well, Esther finds out that a cousin is out there in sackcloth and ashes.
She doesn’t really know what’s going on. And so she sends him clothes out there to give him dress.
He rejects the clothes. And so it now gets real interested.
She sends her servant, half back out in verse 6 to Mordicae.
And Mordicae told him all that had happened to him, the exact amount of money that Hammond had promised to pay to the king’s treasury for the destruction of the Jews.
He sends word back to Esther.
Gave a copy of the edict, and this is what he says to her in verse 8, that he might show Esther and inform her and to order her to go to the king and employ his favor and to plead with him for her people.
Waterachi tells, uh, says to Esther servant, take to eat it tomorrow to cut, take to eat it to Esther, and tell Esta now to go to the king and tell him who you are.
Remember, I told you don’t tell him when you first when he first brought you in.
Don’t tell him because there’s an anti Semitic atmosphere in this city.
So you don’t tell him, but girlfriend, honey bug cuds.
It’s now time to come out the closet It’s now time to go public.
It’s now time to let it be known who you are, and who your people happen to be.
It’s time. You know it’s time. For god to move you to your ultimate purpose.
When he has given you a position that leverages influence for the advancement of his kingdom.
He says, duh, you’re not just here because you’re pretty.
You’re pretty, but that’s not why you’re here.
You’re here because when you were pretty, and didn’t know what was going on, god knew this day was gonna come.
He’d have used the name god, but it will be clear in a moment that’s his frame of reference God knew that this day was gonna come.
It’s time. You’ve been set up for a situation.
When god has positioned you to leverage influence for his Kingdom purposes, Let me put it another way.
When your position in life allows you to leverage influence for the advancement of god’s program and god’s people to put it another way when he has blessed you to be a blessing.
See, we got a problem today. We gotta misunderstanding a blessing.
We got people running around here. I’m looking for my blessing. Okay?
That is a flawed approach to blessing because it’s incomplete.
Whenever you tell god, I want my blessing period.
You have prostituted the term because blessing is only blessing in the Bible.
When it can flow through you and not just to you.
God told Abraham I’m going to bless you and through you.
All the nations of the earth will be blessed.
So whenever you go to god for a and let him know that if he blesses to you, how it’s gonna flow through you so it can be a blessing to somebody else.
God just doesn’t move you out of South Dallas to North Dallas.
He just doesn’t get you out of a bicycle and move you to a bins.
He just doesn’t keep you out of the the Salvation army thrift shop just so now that you can go to the most fabulous malls just so you can live large.
He always wants to know how you’re going to use the gifts, talents, skills, and resources he has given you to advance his kingdom program.
And if there is little or no concern for his kingdom, you just cut off your blessing.
In fact, you will watch your blessing become a curse because you’re not using it for kingdom purposes as well as personal benefit.
So he tells her it’s time.
It’s time for you to use your position, your influence, your resources, and you are now to leverage that in light of the spiritual issue.
The problem is if you don’t see the spiritual, you don’t see the opportunity.
See, if all you’re looking at is the physical, then you don’t see what’s happening behind the scenes in the spiritual.
So so you you you all shook up about what’s happening in the physical.
Because you don’t know that there is a spiritual activity occurring behind the scenes.
She hears that she’s supposed to go before the king.
So she sends word back to mort.
Mort, verse 11, all the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king to the inner court who is not summoned, he has, but one law that he be put to death.
Unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live.
And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these 30 days.
Bart, let me explain something. I need you to understand because It’s sorta like this.
Me and the king have not been talking for 30 days. 30 days, we we not, you know, We own the outs with each other.
He had one of me in his bed chamber.
He’s not talking to me because between chapter 2 and chapter 3 is 5 years.
Because, you know, after 5 years, the marriage can go south.
So his 5 year marriage and he not all that impressed with her beauty anymore, Maybe she didn’t pick up a few wrinkles in 5 years.
I don’t know. Whatever it was, for 30 days, he’s not talking to sister. He’s not talking to his wife.
He’s not talking to her. And he says there’s rule in this house.
If you go in the king, uninvited, and he does not hold out that Royal Sector.
It’s over. It’s over. You are put to death.
So what you’re asking, Mort, is for me to risk my career life economic stability, my crib.
I’m living in the palace.
You you’re asking me to put that on the line for y’all She ain’t no longer us.
See, she a Jew too, but she ain’t like them Jews back then.
She liked them Jews still caught in a bad situation.
She not like those Jews who still live in in shabby houses.
She’s not like them Jews who still have to eke out a life with minimum incomes.
She’s not like those Jews who still have to catch the bus.
She’s not like those Jews who don’t have multiple changes of clothes.
She’s not like those Jews who are still living in inferior housing with inferior education with inferior opportunities.
She’s not like those Jews.
I used to be one of y’all, but I’m up here now.
I’m I’m a Jew, but I’m a different Jew. I’m a upper class Jew.
I’m a I’m a identity Jew. I’m a successful Jew. I’m a Jew with a bank account.
I’m a Jew with a CD. I’m a I’m a jew, but I don’t mean nothing now.
I’m a Jew with stocks and bonds. No. I’m I’m a I am a success for you.
Now I know what it’s like because I lose to live with y’all.
But but but my situation is different now. Uh, so I pray for you.
I hope it works out. I’m in a different socioeconomic political scenario.
And if I go into my husband’s room, and he has not invited me and he does not hold out the scepter.
I’m not willing to do that for y’all because I used to be a Jew.
Nam Du Plus.
What she did is what we do.
We misdiagnosed kingdom opportunity because we don’t see it.
All we see is this could have a negative effect on me.
She she forgot something.
If it wasn’t for the goodness of god, she wouldn’t be there. See, she she missed that.
She meant along the way, she misunderstood if it wasn’t for the good news.
Girl, you did not get here on your home.
You got here the same way a turtle gets to the top of a fence.
Somebody put it there. So she forgot all that and having forgotten all that, she she said, look, this is about me now.
Not about y’all. It’s about me. Y’all get it like I got it.
Because right now it’s about me, and I can’t put myself in that position. Forgotten.
It’s easy to forget how you got where you are. It’s easy to forget.
Once you start living in a certain neighborhood and driving a certain vehicle or wearing a certain clothes and getting a a BA and an MBA and a doctorate and it’s easy to forget that if it were not for the grace of god, you would not be in the position you are now in.
It’s easy to forget that And when you forget that, you’re not so concerned about how other folk don’t make it.
You wind up saying like her. In essence, I made it.
Why y’all not making it? You become we become self absorbed.
See, I’m clearly understand that I am not supposed to be here.
I am not supposed to be on the street in this pulpit doing this.
When I was raised in in, uh, my father was not a believer in those early years, and my home was in only disarray, I’m not supposed to be here.
But because god invaded my home and led my father to Christ changing his life, bringing god into our family, taking me to a Bible teaching church, allowing me to have unique opportunity.
See, clearly understand. The only reason I’m standing here today is the goodness and grace of god.
So the moment I lose sight of that, the moment I lose sight, that what Paul said, I am what I am only by the grace of god.
That’s the only reason that I am with the moment I lose sight of that My role has now been illegitimate because god did not allow me the experiences and opportunities that he’s allowed me to make it all and only about me.
And anybody who does that must be held to account that it is not just about me or you or even us It’s about the kingdom of god.
When we lose sight of that, Then we’ve missed god’s plan and program and history.
Deuteronomy 818, uh, uh, Moses said, god has given you the power to make wealth to fulfill his covenant.
It’s about a kingdom purpose.
It’s okay to benefit from a kingdom purpose as long as you don’t lose the kingdom purpose in the process of benefiting because when you do that, you lose your destiny.
You see, your destiny will always involve a test.
Whether you wanna be a blessing or whether you only wanna be blessed.
Because once you hit that test, God now examines your heart.
Are you here for him? Are you here for how he can use you for others?
Oh, is this just about you? Me? Is this just about selfishness?
And so she says, I can’t help y’all.
Tony Dungey.
The same coach for the Indianapolis Colts.
During the year that he won the Super Bowl, we talked on the phone when he got to the playoffs.
So we’d get on the phone.
And, uh, Coach, what you wanna pray about today, he says I’m not prayer as simple.
That win or lose that I might make his name great before this national audience.
We finally get to the Super Bowl and the Indianapolis coast are gonna play the Chicago bands.
Coach with your prayer. He says the world is watching.
When it lose, I wanna make it inextricably clear, I belong to Jesus raised.
I do not want to miss this moment for an opportunity for my witness.
What’s my point?
He had a kingdom connection to football because that was his time.
Your value to the kingdom of god is your usefulness.
Sand on a beach is free. You’re gonna beat.
You walk around the beach saying it’s free.
That same sand, if you wanna put it in a playground, is gonna cost you.
You gotta go to store and buy bags and sand. That seems freest out.
You gotta now pay for it to put it on a playground. Because it’s used differently.
If you won’t sand paper, all that is is sand glue on paper.
But you gotta go to Lowe’s or Home Depot or someplace.
You gotta go buy sandpaper. It’s a same free sand.
With a little bit of glue and some paper not costing you.
And don’t go to Silicon Valley because they make computer chips with sand.
That’s the most expensive saying you ever saw in your life, not because it’s different. It’s used differently.
See, one of the reasons why god can’t do much with money and money with these people is he can’t use them so they just stand.
They’re just out there because he can’t he can’t find enough Silicon Valley saints.
Saints whose value is tied to their usefulness. What good is a refrigerator that doesn’t work?
A stove that won’t light up, a can opener that won’t come on and a toaster that won’t pop up red.
No matter how expensive it was, no matter how good it looks, if it does not do what it was created to do, it’s useless appliance.
God says about his people in Luke 14, he says some of his salt, some of his believers are useless.
Because it’s useless because we have no Kingdom orientation, and we wind up saying I don’t know what my purpose is, and you’ll never find it if you’re not kingdom oriented.
You’ll never find your time because it’s only about you, not through you, only to you.
So your time comes when you discover how god can use you to be a blessing.
You know, department stores department stores, Big department stores have display windows, and then those display windows are dummies.
Dummies. Okay. Let’s let’s gets sophisticated. Mannequins. Mannequins. But, basically, dummies.
In the real expensive stores, they put up living large dummies.
They they did the dummies. I’ve seen dummies with tux.
The women wearing gowns, Rolex Watches, in New York one time I saw a window with a dummy sitting in a Ferrari in the window.
Why do the owners of the department stores put dummies in the window?
Cause they know they’re dummies like us walking up the street.
So you know what they do? They put them on display.
The reason they put the mannequins or the dummies on display play is so that when the other dummies are walking up the street, they will be impressed by what’s on display.
And having been impressed by what’s on display, it will draw them into the store so that they can get some stuff for themselves.
In other words, the dummy isn’t put on display to show off the dummy. Dummy.
The dummy is put on display to be an attraction to a bigger kingdom.
To draw people off the street into the kingdom where there’s floor at the floor at the floor at the floor of so much more.
When god blesses you, he’s putting you on display. He allows you to be successful.
He allows you to get an education.
He allows you to have resources so that so I’ve allowed you some popularity and some notoriety.
He is now putting you on display so that as a representative of his kingdom, other people will see what a dummy looks like who’s been touched by the grace of god.
But don’t forget on your best day. You still are.
There you go. Because on our best day, where sin is saved by grace.
The Titanic was a was a turbo, turbo incident in 191912 sinking. 1500 people lost their lives.
1500 people lost their lives in the maiden voyage of the sinking of the Titanic.
But g did you know fifteen hundred people didn’t have to die?
15 hundred people shouldn’t have died.
Did you know that most of the lifeboats coming off of the Titanic were half filled? Yes.
Only half filled. But the people who were saved and delivered didn’t want a risk turning back.
Because if they turn back, the people drowning might bum rush the boat.
And if everybody bum rushed the boat, it might flip the boat over.
So since they had been saved and delivered, They didn’t wanna risk going back to save and deliver others because it might interfere with that being saved and delivered.
So fifteen hundred people died because other people who were already saved didn’t wanna save others.
If you’ve been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, god has not just left you here.
Because you’re making it to glory.
He’s left you here because they’re folk drowning all around you, drowning spiritually, drowning relationally, drowning morally, drowning.
They’re just drowning. And here we are in this OCBF light boat.
Your personal lifeboat.
It can’t only be about you or me or even us in our church.
We do not exist only for ourselves. We exist to make a difference in impact.
You know, bowlers are known for the impact.
I don’t care how good looking bowler you are, you know, because there’s a bowler.
You know, today, you know, bow you bow fancy today. When I was going up, it wasn’t fancy bowman.
Today is fancy bowler. They got bowling pants, bowling shirt, bowling gloves, you know, bowling socks, you know, they got both.
And then the fancy bowling bags and fancier bowling balls. And then there’s the bowling style.
Put your three fingers in. Cocktable.
No matter how good you look as a bowler.
If the pins are still standing, You have failed.
Because Ebola is measured by his impact.
No matter how christian y you look, how churchified you act.
If there is no impact for the kingdom of god, for your life.
You are a failed representative. I am a failed representative of the kingdom of god.
And to tell god sees that he can use you to knock down some pins, why would he share his purpose with you for you to dismiss it?
No. You’re blessed to be a blessing.
And when he sees that, so more than Kai gets this information from her, And what the car writes her back, because, you know, by 2 or 3 witnesses, he says, no, we we gotta have a second conversation.
Then Mordicai told them to reply to Esther because Do not imagine verse 13 that you and the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews.
For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place.
And you and your father’s house will perish.
And who knows whether you have been attained royalty called to the kingdom for such a time as this?
He says, uh, cause let let me help you out here because you we’re a little you’re a little confused.
Do you imagine?
And one of my favorite temptation songs is just my imagination running away with me.
Girl, your imagination is running away from you. You you imagine. Do you think?
Do you have the mistaken idea that this thing revolves around you?
Hello? Today, I don’t wanna be confusing here because come on.
I wanna make sure we we own the same bank.
Do you think because right now, your imagination is running away with you.
Do you think that by not doing this, you’re gonna save you, and all of us are gonna be like that one.
So let me shape your theology.
If you don’t do it, god has a solution elsewhere.
I don’t know what it is.
I don’t know where it is, but without using the nameguard, let me give you some theology because nobody is indispensable.
Let let’s get this straight. Let’s get this straight. Okay. How good you are?
How rich you are, how powerful you are, how skilled you are.
God never limits himself to one person. Yeah. Mhmm.
God always has something up his sleeve.
He doesn’t reveal it until he needs to. But god always has hidden options.
See, if you’re going downtown Dallas, you’re going down 35. And they have an accident on the highway.
In case you don’t know it, I know most of you know it, if you’re stuck on the highway, there are other options.
Okay? 35 is not your only option.
It’s just your direct option because you can get off on Illinois, turn left, go over to Zane, turn right to Jefferson run right again, go across the Jefferson City Bridge, and you’re gonna be downtown.
Or you can turn right on Illinois and go through South Dallas via Fair Park, and make it into downtown.
You can get to downtown without the direct route.
So while god would like to use you, Esther, While god prefers to use you, Esther, while god would rather use you, Esther, let me explain something.
If he can’t use you, then he will find somebody else.
We don’t even know who they are. Because god never allows men to box him in. Okay?
So why he wants to use you, you, you, you, you, and me.
See, I’m I’m of no delusion that god can get rid of me and bring somebody better than me here at Oakland Barber Fellowship.
And so if I feel bad about me, you know, I feel about you.
That god always keeps these options open.
And that nobody is indispensable when it comes to his Kingdom purpose.
Now the reason he said that is because god had made a promise. I will preserve the Jews.
See, he had enough of god’s word. God’s word is not mentioned. God is not mentioned.
But but he knows enough to know that if you don’t do it, god’s sovereignty will make sure it’s done because god is true to his word.
And his word can be banked on and dependent upon he would rather use you.
But he doesn’t have to. So stop smelling yourself.
Because you you ain’t all that now.
I mean, you you’ve been positioning it, and god wants to use you, but come on, girl. Come on, girl.
You you gotta look at this thing differently.
In fact, not only will he bring somebody else because he can’t use you, He gonna mess you up because you were disobedient to your kingdom calling.
He put he gave you this job. He gave you this position. He gave you this resource.
He gave you this education. He gave you this opportunity, and you have missed the kingdom purpose. No.
None none of that’s being used for the kingdom which involves god’s promise for the preservation of his people the great tragedy today is if our church exists and still doesn’t accomplish kingdom purpose.
Because just because you’re a church doesn’t mean you’re accomplishing kingdom purpose. That’s a name, church.
If we’re not winning people of Christ to siphon them in the faith, and improving their lives and history so that they can be greater impact vessels for god for eternity.
If we’re not doing that, demonstrating the kingdom of heaven, visiting the kingdom of earth through kingdom disciples who are heaven’s representatives on earth.
If we’re not doing that, we have a weekly party in the name of Jesus.
You may call to the kingdom for such something, and the kingdom is bigger than the church.
The church is facilitating the kingdom. Well, he hit her with this.
Then Esther told him verse 15 through 17.
Go assemble all the Jews who are found in Souza and fast for me.
Do not eat or drink for 3 days, night, or day.
I and my meetings also will fast in the same way.
And thus, I will go into the king which is not according to the law. This this is risky.
And if I perish, I perish.
So Mordicai went and did just as Esther had commanded him.
Let me tell you how you’ll know what’s your time.
There’ll be a spiritual conflict that god wants you to intervene on.
You will see how he has prepared you to be a blessing, not just be blessed.
But then he will ask you to take, watch this, a risk of faith.
Let me explain something. Faith is risky business.
Because you’re dealing with something you can’t see. See, the opposite of faith is sight.
If you see it, it’s not faith because you you see it physically see it.
Faith is acting on what you do not see because you believe god wants you to do it.
Based on his words. And this was based on god keeping a promise.
So based on his word, faith is taking a step without being guaranteed the outcome.
K? Watch that now. See, we don’t mind taking a step when we can guarantee the outcome.
But risky faith. Okay. Watch this. I wanna throw this at you.
The grade of the uncertainty the greater the purpose.
The greater the uncertainty, the more fearful the step, She says, if I perish, I I do not know how this is gonna work out.
And sometimes, god causes us as us when it’s our time, to take a step and we don’t see where that foot’s gonna land.
I don’t know if he’s gonna put out a scepter.
I don’t know if he’s gonna keep down in after, I do not know how this is gonna work out.
But because I know this is a kingdom, what a concept you’ve been called to the kingdom.
You’ve been given a royal opportunity for such a time as this.
And because this is now, And you have to take a step.
And every time all through the Bible, people have had to take risky steps of faith whenever god was ready to do something big.
It’s a spiritual entrepreneurialism. Entrepreneurialism is where you take risk.
But spiritually, it’s where you’re acting on god’s word based on god’s revelation, but without having the in without having the result already predetermined, and it could go left.
I could perish, but it’s clear what I want god to do.
So I need spiritual preparation to take this risk.
Have y’all fast, everybody you know fast, tell your cousins the fast, your people to fast, your aunties, your own goals, tell everybody to fast, because I’m really I’m going out here on a on the line, and I’m gonna risk my very well-being for this.
And if I perish, I perish see, the 3 Hebrew boys had to take a risk.
They told Nevica Nessa, we’re not gonna bow. Nessa said, then you’re going into the fiery furnace.
They didn’t know that there was gonna be a 4th person in there to meet them.
They had to take a risk if faith because they wouldn’t bow in contradiction to the word of god.
Daniel had to take a risk.
He had to take a risk that when he he refused to stop praying when the king’s edict said, you can no longer pray in school.
You can no longer pray in court. You can no longer he took a risk of faith.
And he got thrown into the lions, and he didn’t know that the lions would have been fed from manor from above.
Before he got thrown in there, and they would lose their appetite for human flesh.
Peter had to stake and risk his step when he stepped out on the water.
The only reason he stepped out on the water, because Jesus told him he could step out on the water.
He stepped out on the water and could walk on water.
But he didn’t know whether he was gonna drown before he stepped out.
The Israelites crossing the red sea.
They got Farrow on one hand, the red sea on the other hand, they don’t know whether that water is gonna crash in once they get out into the middle of the ocean.
But when you’ve been called for a purpose, there’s gonna be a risky step of faith.
And that risky step of faith has to take in both options.
This could work, or it might not. That’s god’s problem. That’s god’s problem.
I have to trust god If I’m convinced that this is how he’s positioned me to use me, I have to trust god, and it will always involve benefiting more than you.
The Bible says, don’t just look at yourself, but look at the things of others.
How will be beneficial to others in the process of me benefiting It will benefit.
You don’t wanna be like the pilot, uh, the 4 engines in the plane went out.
All four engines in the plane went out.
The pilot went and grabbed the 1 parachute that was on this small plane.
He went to the door, unlocked the door just before he jumped. He said, don’t worry.
I’m just going to get some help. It was just about him.
So the challenge today, I’m challenging you to open your eyes to such a time as this.
Yeah. You know, a turtle only makes progress when it sticks its neck out.
Not until he sticks his neck out. He’s gonna move. God wants to use you.
God wants to bless you. God wants to empower you because he wants you to make a difference even if it means gambling with faith.
That is the risk when you don’t know the outcome.
I’m challenging you and me and us to another level.
A kingdom level to say, okay, god, with the uncertainty, with me not knowing where all this is going.
Here I am. Here I am. Use me in whatever way you choose, use us.
Even with the uncertainty, I’ll take the risk I just want you to show me this is the risk you want me to take without any promises I will take the risk of faith.
Because I want my time. I don’t wanna end this time and not have had my time.
His name is Thomas Anderson, AKA Neo.
His movies are the matrix the matrix reloaded and matrix revolution.
Thomas Anderson is a computer programmer part time computer hacker.
But Thomas Anderson gets whisked away to a computer generated reality known as the Matrix.
When he gets relocated in this world behind the world that he knows, He discovers behind his world is another world.
Behind this other world, he’s told that back here in this other world, there are powers that he is unaware of.
There is a love that he never dreamt of named Trinity.
And there are a whole group of people under attack in Zion by the machines.
When he’s whisk away, he comes to Morpheus.
Murpheus looks at him and says, Neo, we’ve been waiting for you.
You are the one. There’s a massive confusion back here.
We’ve been waiting to be sent the 1.
The one who would be used to bring victory and harmony.
Now Neil, you need to know back head as this dude named, Mr. Smith. And Mr.
Smith wants to destroy you. Mr.
Smith like Amen wants to do you in, and he wants to destroy Zion.
And he’s going to give everything he can to keep you for fulfilling your purpose as the 1.
But if you will take the risk and come back here, believing that this is your purpose.
Then while I cannot promise you peace and farity and all that, because Mister Smith is gonna reduplicate himself over and over and over again, and he’s gonna commit you every which way, but loose.
But if you will accept this assignment, then you can be positioned to save a world in trouble behind the world that you think is the real world.
And so Neil, in this hand, I have a blue pill.
In this hand, I have a red pill.
Neo, you take the blue pill and you’ll wake up tomorrow morning in your bed and you’ll think you were just in a dream.
None of this will be real, and you’ll go on with your plan or ordinary computer programming life.
Or nio.
If you take the red pill, then you will be given powers that you never dreamt of.
You will give experiences that you never thought of because you will be in the real world.
The world behind the world you thought was the real world.
So take the blue pill neo and go back home. Take the red pill.
And let’s see how far this rabbit hole goes.
Neil looks at both pills.
He reaches over to the red pill, and he swallows it.
Neo Wolfier says, welcome to the real world.
So my brothers and sisters, I offer you today 2 pills.
The blue pill And you go back home today, back to your plain old ordinary life.
Yeah, work, raise family, make a little money, pay a little bills.
You go back and you just live your plain old ordinary life, and this will just be another Sunday at church.
Or I offer you the red pill.
The pill that reflects the precious blood of Jesus Christ. They offer you that red pill.
With that red pill, you leave here and say, I don’t work and ordinary life anymore.
I don’t want to just go through the motions anymore.
I do not just want to to to go to church anymore. I want my time.
And I want to see all that god has for me and all that god wants from me and all that god wants to use me and all that God wants to do through me.
Give me the red pill. Don’t get me wrong.
I’m not promising you if you take the red pill, this all smooth sailing.
Because it’s a risky pill to take.
I am saying if you take the red pill, We’ll get to see how far this rabbit hole go.