Give It Your All

“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” Esther 4:16

Esther, a Jewish girl married to a pagan king, broke with long-standing tradition, marched into her husband’s throne room, spoke her mind, and rescued her people from annihilation. One girl saved a nation because she was willing to put everything on the line. Are you feeling inadequate today? Are you thinking, ‘Someone else should be doing this job instead of me’? Then read these words written by clergyman Edward Everett Hale: ‘I am only one; but still I am one. I can’t do everything; but still I can do something: and because I can’t do everything, I will not refuse to do the something I can do.’

How many people did it take to rescue the dying man on the Jericho Road? One Good Samaritan. How many people did it take to confront Pharaoh and lead the exodus out of Egypt? One man, Moses. A respected leadership expert writes: ‘God has put a dream inside you. It’s yours and no one else’s. It declares your uniqueness. It holds your potential. Only you can give birth to it. Only you can live it. Not to discover it, take responsibility for it and act upon it is to negatively affect yourself as well as all those who would benefit from your dream.’ Poet John Greenleaf Whittier wrote, ‘For all sad words of tongue and pen; the saddest are these, “It might have been.”’

In your twilight years, will you look back and feel like you’ve spent your life struggling to fulfil other people’s expectations? Or know that you lived it to the fullest by striving to fulfil your God-given dream? Think about it now, while there’s still time to change direction.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me get off my south side going north and do something that You have prepared for me to do! In Jesus’ Name, Amen