| "The Esther Principle", Part 2 |
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| Written by David Lawrence |
| Monday, November 20 2006 00:00 |
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Do the words of Mordecai in Esther 4:13-14 (“ 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. 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?") constitute a principle in the action of God toward people? Does God designate people for a task in the performance of His eternal counsel and then excuse them and look for someone else? What say the Scriptures? God raised up a reluctant Moses to deliver His people from Egyptian bondage. Moses offered several excuses including the excuse of not being a capable speaker and sought to be dismissed. God did not accept his excuse, gave him Aaron, and sent him to Pharaoh (Ex. 3:7-15, 4:1-17). God selected Isaiah to be a prophet, but Isaiah was reluctant because he was guilty of sin, obvious to him when he encountered the holiness of God. God purged his sin and Isaiah went willingly (Isa. 6:5-8). God chose Jeremiah to bring a dire prophecy to Judah, but Jeremiah claimed he was too young. God sent him anyway (Jer. 1:4-9). God chose Jonah and told him to prophecy to Nineveh. Jonah performed the ultimate evasion in trying to avoid the assignment: he ran away from God. Jonah still went to Nineveh (Book of Jonah). God chose Amos to be a prophet, but Amos felt he was an unqualified shepherd. Amos went and prophesied (Amos 7:14-15). God chose a fiery Christian-hating Pharisee by the name of Saul of Tarsus to be His apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 9:1-19). The last thing Saul would ever have imagined would be that he would be a Christian missionary. You know the rest of the story. Esther, our example, hesitated, but still she went. If there is any principle at work it is a natural reluctance on the part of man to do the bidding of God. However, Scripture consistently reveals to us that God does not accept excuses, and when He selects someone for the task, that person eventually goes. We shall examine in our next week’s devotional the underlying Biblical reason. |
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