Made for this Moment, The R-Code: Responsibility

Recap

Going through the book of Esther to learn how we are made for this moment.

What is the moment?

The moment is the situation that you find yourself in,

situation in your personal lie

situation in your family

situation at the job

situation at the church

however you got here . . . you were made for this moment

for many of us we are to overcome in this moment

make a difference in this moment

serve in this moment

let God work through us in this moment

grow in this moment

. . .or some combination

We are breaking “made for this moment” down using the R-Code

The first R of the R-Code is Reality, and last week we talked about two levels of reality that we must not forget

we must understand that life is tenuous

shaky, shifting, unstable,

respond to life carefully, take it serious

we must also understand that you were made for the moment, the moment was not made for you

God has a plan and he made you to be a part of his plan

most people think life is, “God, help me with my plan” . . . but your plan is irrelevant

it’s all about the will of God

You will have a head start on 95% of the people if you live in reality and understand those two levels of reality:

life is tenuous

it’s not about you

Let’s pick up the story: A top official in the kingdom named Haman has tricked the king into signing a law that puts the life of every Jew in the kingdom of Persia in danger.

Mordecai asks Queen Esther, who happens to be his younger cousin, who he raised, to intervene

Initially, she refuses because it would just be too dangerous. The law was that you could not go to the king unless you were summoned (Explain)

She understands reality, life is tenuous . . . can’t go through life making hazardous steps, and she initially refuses

He responds:

Esther 4:13–14 NLT

13 Mordecai sent this reply to Esther: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed. 14 If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”

Have you ever thought God made you queen for just such a time as this?

Do you understand that you were made for this moment?

The reality is that going to the king unsummoned is a dangerous thing, but the bigger reality is that You have been put into position for this situation.

it’s not about you

it’s bigger than you

you are not the chess player, you are a chess piece!

if you do not do this, God will get another chess piece, and knock you off the board

How will she respond?

Esther 4:15–16 NLT

15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.”

I hear you Mordecai, you are right, the second part of reality is that I was made for this moment, placed here for this moment,

This is a problem for the Jews, and I am Jewish

This is a national level problem, I am a queen

no one else, even Mordecai, has a high level enough position to get close to the king

God gave me this beautiful face that might melt his heart. (God did not make me beautiful so that I can look in the mirror and admire myself)

How will you know you are the one who is supposed to take on what you’re facing?

Look at your position

See where God has placed you

Look at the gifts God has given you

it will be pretty clear

If you look at your life, it’s all right there

How did I become a musician?

Back to our church history: my dad asked, “who will be our musician”

God placed in a new church with only 4 people

Dad was the pastor, leaves three to pick from

we knew he wasn’t talking to mom

it was down to two, just to my sister and I

she just stared straight ahead, I am the only one looking around . . . .

How did Mordecai, know it was up to him to raise his younger cousin?

she was an orphan

he was probably the closest relative

if you are the person in your circle is set up the best to handle the situation . . . . you were made for this moment

it doesn’t have to take an angel from heaven

And so Esther instructs her cousin to get the people to fast and pray, me and my servants will fast and pray . . . .And though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king

And we see the next R of the R-Code: Responsibility

Queen Esther is going to take on this Responsibility

if you are going to succeed in the moment, you must take on a responsibility of the moment

don’t procrastinate, take it on

don’t run from it, take it on

don’t avoid it, take it on

here is some encouragement to take on the moment. There is no safety in running from the moment

This is what Mordecai told Esther

ask Jonah - he actually ran away, but ended up in the belly of a whale

ask Samson - never took his calling seriously, ended up dying with the people he was supposed to defeat

so embrace the moment

and in this story of Esther, we will see two parts to taking on the responsibility that God has called you to take on.

The first one is, you need to seek God’s help

God WILL put you in a moment that is bigger than you, and you will need his help

you will have to depend upon him

you will have to call on him

And Esther realizes this, so she tells Mordecai, we’ve got to fast and pray

Don’t take on the moment/situation without God

WMBC we can’t take on the 24/25 year without God, we’ve got to seek God’s help

can’t just evangelize, you gotta pray and evangelize

you can’t just make a post for the church on social media, you have to pray and post

you can’t just have financial plans, you gotta pray and plan

you can’t just say, we are going to love one another, you gotta pray and seek to love one another, cause none of us is easy to love all the time

whether it is a situation at church, home, school job

seek God’s help

beg for his help

plead for his mercy in every situation

ask for his grace to overflow

pray that he sends his power

pray that he sends his strength

pray that he give you favor

pray that he give you wisdom

pray that God will illuminate your path

Father, I have accepted this responsibility, but I can’t do without you

The 2nd part of responsibility is risk

she says, If I must die, I must die

I cannot sugar coat this: When you take responsibility, you must understand there is a risk (which is why people don’t like to take responsibility)

And here is what many modern followers of God miss . . . they want to serve without risk

They expected Esther to say, “If you pray, I’ll be ok . . . . I won’t die, ”

Cause they are so used to the false teaching that every season is their season

The are used to the teaching that breakthroughs take about a week, a month, a year at most

I don’t hear many preachers/prophets saying, “just trust in the Lord, and in in 25 years, you will finally get your breakthrough’

that’s what happened to Abraham

or “keep your head down low and live in a tough situation for 40 years, and then God will use you mightily” . . . that’s what happened to Moses

or “get betrayed by your family, get treated bad by your boss, get thrown in jail, be forgotten by people you helped, and then after 15 years, God will promote you” . . . . that’s what happened to Joseph

or just serve the Lord, preach the gospel, and you will be jailed, tortured, and executed . . . that’s what happened to the apostles

The flat footed, plain truth is that when we take on the responsibility that God wants us to take on . . . there is a risk!

Esther is living in reality, and says, “If I die, I must die

The three Hebrew boys were correct is saying, God is able to deliver us from the fire, but we don’t know if he will, but what we do know is that we will not bow down before a false god! . . . in other words, if we die, we must die

Christianity is not for cowards

Why would anyone volunteer to take on risk?

1st reason, Because they understand reality

Life is short and tenuous and temporary

God’s plans are bigger than me

I was made for this

I am just a chess piece in the master’s hand

I am not living just for this life, but I have eternity on my mind

one day I have to stand before the judgement seat of God

one day, I want to hear God say, Well done, thy good and faithful servant.

I understand that God is God and there is no one like him, I’m just amazed that he notices me and has included me in his plans

He is el-shaddai, God almighty, and he deserves full obedience

2nd reason, those who take risk for God take risk, is because we love people

the risk will involve helping somebody

I’ll take a risk in order to bless someone

2nd commandment, love your neighbor as yourself

emergency personell take risk all the time, in order to help somebody

in all of these floods, people taking risk to save others

people were even taking risk to save pets

so why not take a risk that will help people and serve an awesome God????

Again, What is Queen Esther’s risk . . . she might die. She has already seen the king turn on the previous queen. What if he takes her showing up without being summoned as a sign of disrespect?

To take advantage of the moment you must live in reality and take responsibility

and in taking on that responsibility, seek God’s help

understand that you must take a risk

it could be big, it could be small, but there is risk

Let me give you a word to help you . . . faith

True faith involves a risk

true faith you bet on God

It boils down to . . . . Will you have the faith to respond appropriately to the situation you are facing?

You were made for this moment/situation, but you gotta have faith

I will take on this responsibility

I will be the front person

put it on my shoulders because God put me here for this

Just pray for me, pray with me . . . I’ll be praying, and I don’t know the outcome . . . if I go down, I just go down . . . that means all my reward will be in the next life

But I was made for this moment.

Salvation example

Jesus took on the responsibility of saving our souls

Esther said “if I die”

Jesus said, “I will die”

i came for this moment

I love the people

Why?

he was obedient to his Heavenly Father

he did it for us, be loves us, to took on the cross because of us