If I Perish, I Perish

Through my personal time with the Lord and lessons taught to me, I’ve learned that God’s ways are not our ways and that we are all in process—no one ever attains perfection on Earth.

That is why it is so important that we stay teachable no matter how long we’ve walked with Jesus.

Here are a few lessons I want to pass on to you today:

• Leadership includes giving people the freedom to fail so they can release their creativity. The courage to fail for Christ’s cause is a bold attitude that releases the Holy Spirit. Christians can focus on obeying their call instead of worrying over the numbers they post.
• Christians are in the world to attack the status quo and should never get locked into a this-is-how-we-have-always-done-it attitude. God meets us in crazy places when we only desire His glory and honor.
• Every act of faith involves risk, and the odds are always against us when God asks us to do something. This is a scary thought, but I want to encourage you to do what you can do and factor in Jesus to do what seems impossible.
• God’s requests of us are usually beyond our ability. But if we obey Him, God intends to get involved if we first step into His truth. This is the life of faith.
• If you don’t do what God asks of you, you never get to see what He would have done through you. This is a humbling thought. Wouldn’t you rather obey and fail than not obey at all?

Esther is one person who learned all of these lessons. Fear is our greatest enemy in the fight of faith, and Esther shows us how to defeat it. When challenged by Mordecai to act in faith, Esther faithfully responds.

“'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 your royal position for such a time as this?' ... Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: … 'I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.'” –Esther 4:13-16, emphasis added

She obeyed even though she thought she would die, and God worked. Esther is one of my heroes, and 2,500 years later her story still speaks to us.

Similar to Esther, the Apostle Paul cried out, “to live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21)."

The Earth is filled with heroes of the faith, and we’re called to join them by being willing to do whatever it takes to point people to Jesus. As C.S. Lewis stated, “Die before you die, there is no chance after.”

Lewis was making the point that we must die to ourselves before dying physically. A radical heart change must happen to those who have been captured by Christ’s redeeming love so that we can live in accordance with the secrets of Christ’s Kingdom.

We must leave our spectator seats to enter the fight for the fame of Jesus and the glory of God. In doing so, we will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” from the King of the universe.

It’s never too late to start making Jesus public as we follow Him with all of our lives. Let’s begin to live in a way that leaves us with no regrets when our Maker calls us home.

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