Exercisng Faith: Day 4

Day 4

Example: Esther's Life 

Esther faced down fear she trusted in God, understanding there was a bigger problem than she could handle on her own. She faced many giants from King Ashasuerus to his servant Haman. Who both induced fear into her life.

Reflection:  We face many fears everyday. We, like Esther, need to take those fears to God in prayer. Then respond in obedience to his directions.

Actions:

Seek the Lord. Study the scriptures. Follow Jesus’ example, he knew the Lord's plan and prayed about it. The Lord gave him peace. He then fulfilled that which was required of him. Esther needed peace before she called the king to meet her. She fasted and prayed. She didn't do it alone. She was interceding for all jews.. We are not interceding for a nation of people, we are asking for peace: a gift from the holy spirit. Ask a friend in faith to help you pray, to stay encouraged. Also getting to know the trinity is a great way to start building up your faith. 

(We will start a study on that soon).

Once you have peace you can do what the Lord desires of you. His voice isn't always audible, it's a feeling. An example is how I most recently heard God. 

I have always wanted to go back to college and complete a degree. I didnt know what to study, I was too focused on what I had studied. I looked into it, but was letting fear direct me. I said out loud I wasn't going back to college. I tried to convince myself I didn't want to, but I did and God knew that. God had plans. He knew I was going to apply and get accepted.

 The only thing I knew that I could do and not fail at was my blog because it honors God. I put extra time into it. It was in that study time I found peace in the Lord  and I heard his direction. His direction wasn't audible. Instead it was the feeling I didn't know everything I could benefit from some classes.

 There was peace in that decision. I applied not knowing what would happen. There was no fear there because I was being obedient to the directions given in peace. I laid it in God's hands.

Fears came later, the devil tried to discourage me. I felt like I was facing a giant, in the end God answered my prayer in his own time according to his plans.

God speaks and directs us in peace. He’s there in the midst of dreams you just can't shake off. Trust in him and the more time you spend seeking him is the amount of peace that will increase in your life. Peace is only found in his presence. His voice is only heard in his presence. The sheep don't hear the shepherd calling them if they're not close enough to him.

Esther was close enough to hear his voice. She didn't care what people would do to her; she cared about what would happen to her if she wasn't obedient to her God.