Walking Anyway: Esther's Call to Open Hands

``That need to know to control outcomes, that's the source of our anxiety. It reminds me of Jesus in the Garden Of Gethsemane praying before the cross. Second window to my left, your right, Jesus in the garden, sweating drops of blood, praying. And what does Jesus say in his prayer to God in the Garden Of Gethsemane? Not what? Not my will, but thine be done. Similar to Esther saying, if I perish, I perish. [01:02:35] (32 seconds)  #LetGoTrustGod

So on the third day, Esther puts on her robes, her queenly robes, and she walks. She walks anyway, and she says, if I perish, I perish. This is not the sound of someone walking into a situation with clenched fist. This is the sound of someone walking into a terrifying situation with open hands. She's named the worst, she knows what could happen. Three days of fasting gave her the opportunity to release her need to know. [01:01:49] (46 seconds)  #WalkWithOpenHands

We hold on to safety when you are calling us into risk. We hold on to certainty when you are inviting us to trust. We hold on to what we have been when you are making us into who we are becoming. We hold on to outcomes we cannot control, and we call it wisdom when it's really fear. But today, today, we open our hands. Not because we are brave, not because we are certain, not because we know how the story ends, but because Esther put on her robes and walked anyway. [01:07:22] (39 seconds)  #SentWithOpenHands

And now, my dear friends, go as night travelers, not fleeing the darkness within you, but carrying it gently like a lantern into the world. The God who met Moses in the fire, Hagar in the wilderness, Jacob in the dark, and Esther in her anxiety. That same God goes with you. You do not have to have it all resolved to walk forward, walk anyway. And may the light you find in the turning illuminate not only your own path, but the way home for someone who is still afraid to look. Go in peace. Amen. [01:12:39] (39 seconds)  #LetGoToReceive

The hands that release what we've been gripping are the same hands that receive what God has been holding for us. A monkey trap only works if the monkey won't let go of what's inside. Monkey has to let go and it's free. So I wonder, I wonder this today. What have you been gripping, clenching, holding on to so tightly that's keeping you from receiving the blessing that God has for you? What what if is it time for you to release? [01:05:30] (40 seconds)  #FreedomThroughSurrender

But you know what she did during those three days of fasting? Esther conquered her anxiety. She's still afraid, but her anxiety has been conquered. Why? Because she spent three days before God letting go, opening her hands to whatever it is God had before her. She conquered it not by getting rid of her fear or her dread, but by being available to whatever God had in store. [01:03:52] (33 seconds)  #FastThenAct

Release and receive. It's the same motion, one and the same. And so Esther's three day fast is her three day work to prepare herself to practice open palms. There's a difference between walking anyway versus recklessness. Recklessness will just charge into a situation without releasing anything. Walking anyway is movement after the fast. It's the steps that someone takes with open palms. [01:01:12] (37 seconds)  #AnxietyAsksWhatIf

Anxiety asks this question, what if? And so Esther is fearful and she's anxious saying, what if the king doesn't extend the golden scepter? What if my security? What if my identity? What if it all comes undone? Anxiety never ever asks what we were made for, what our purpose in this life is, and anxiety doesn't ask that question. Anxiety is too busy calculating the cost of moving ahead. Get it? You get what anxiety is? [00:55:48] (35 seconds)  #BringItToGod