For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” Esther 4:14-16

A big vision of God drives courageous action within men.

The book of Esther is not a simple “chick flick” between Nehemiah and Job. There was a man behind the scenes who displayed undying integrity and faith in God. The book is named after Esther, but a godly man drives the story. This man, Mordecai, knew the big picture. Mordecai was an exile from Judah, a Benjamite. He adopted the daughter of his uncle as his daughter because she had no mother or father.  He was loyal, kind, humble, and resolute in his actions.

If you read through the book, you’ll see a man who was on the wrong end of an unjust plot against him. He was on the brink of annihilation and about to watch God’s people endure even greater suffering. In his advice to Esther, he says something very telling that reveals the big picture. He was so confident God would deliver the Jews that it drove him to give great courage to Esther. Seeing and trusting God despite the circumstances led this man to act with conviction.

DO THIS TODAY: Act with courage while seeing God’s big picture.