Jun 26, 2019
By Sarina Villalpando
Maranatha Community
Church, Colton, CA
One of the hard challenges God puts into our journey is to step out of our comfort zone. God wants us to be uncomfortable. To be uncomfortable is how we grow. It’s how we continue God’s journey. We are to abandon our comfort zones and step out into faith.
When talking about stepping out of our comfort zone the book of Esther is one that can be looked at. Esther was a Jewish exile living in Persia. She was an orphan brought up by her cousin Mordecai. A royal decree was sent out to find a new queen and all the beautiful women were brought to the royal palace. Out of all the women, King Ahasuerus choose Esther. When looking at Esther it’s important to consider how she felt through this. Because she was a young Jewish girl, away from her family, she must have been out of her comfort zone. She couldn’t have known how things were going to go, but she trusted God and knew He was behind the scenes. He had a mission for her, and that meant she needed to get uncomfortable.
Mordecai had fallen out of favor with a man who had a lot of power in the kingdom of Ahasuerus. The end result was that a man named Haman was so enraged that he convinced the king that all the Jews in the kingdom needed to be destroyed. The king was unaware that Esther was Jewish. But God set up a chain of events in this story and positioned Esther and Mordecai where He needed them in order to use them to save his people.
It’s hard for us to see God’s big picture. Jesus says that a sparrow does not fall from the sky without God knowing in Matthew 10:29. It’s impossible to believe, then, that anything that happens to us is not watched over. He carefully makes sure that we have exactly what we need to fulfill His plan for our lives (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Esther and Mordecai came up with a plan that involved putting Esther’s life at risk. She would go to the king and plead before him for her people. The law said that if someone were to approach the king without being summoned, they would be put to death—and this is exactly what Esther was doing. Esther was an orphan who became queen of a kingdom. It took boldness for her to fight for her people. It couldn’t have been easy. She fasted and prayed for three days before putting the plan into action. And then she was obedient, not knowing what the outcome would be. But it was more important for her to do what she needed to do, even if she was uncomfortable, because she trusted God and God was in control.
In the end, because of Esther’s trust and boldness, Ahasuerus welcomed her when she approached him, listened to her pleading, and the Jewish people were saved from destruction. Haman was hanged on the gallows that he built specifically for Mordecai.
It is time for us to get uncomfortable! We need to learn to trust God unquestioningly.
We are all guilty of it. I definitely am. Believe that He loves you so much that you can rest in His perfect guidance and wisdom for your life. Esther did it simply, and it went more than well for her. You can trust just as simply and take the step of faith. Be obedient to do the things that God asks of you. Step outside of your comfort zone and live a life of faith.
I battled my fears. I knew I had to stand on God’s truth and you do, too. The fear I felt was not from God, so every time it crept into my thinking, I had to remind myself, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline.”
—2 Timothy 1:7
