Stepping into Courage: For Such a Time as This

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Esther, if you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place. Esther, you have an opportunity to stand up against evil. You have an opportunity to stand up and place yourself, stop the gap. It's your choice to take it or not. [00:14:00] (26 seconds)  #DivineProtectionPromise

And here's what we believe. God loves his people. The Jewish people are the chosen people of God. God is not going to let them completely disintegrate because Esther doesn't decide to stand up to King Xerxes. Because Esther doesn't decide to place herself in danger. God is not going to let his chosen people pass away. [00:14:27] (29 seconds)  #RoleInTheGreaterPlan

Now what Mordecai does say is, you may be at loss. It doesn't mean that there won't be people lost. We've seen in the repeats of history over and over again that Jews are targeted over and over and over. And yet, we're still here. God loves his chosen people. He does not need us to fulfill his prophecies. But we get the opportunity. We get the opportunity that we've been placed in places for a reason. [00:14:56] (42 seconds)  #FaithInTheUnknown

You know, and I like to see the end of the story. I like to see the full picture. I like to know that the things that I'm about to do are going to make a difference in the world. But in the middle of the story, you don't get that opportunity. You have the information that you have. You're sitting on the bus, being told to move out of your seat. You don't know that by not, by choosing to not get out of your seat, that there's going to be a boycott of all buses coming with the majority of the people that use this bus. And through that, life is going to change. You don't get that opportunity to see that. [00:15:37] (40 seconds)  #JusticeOverComfort

What you know is that it is not right for someone else to force me to get out of my seat strictly based on the color of my skin. What I know is that I am in a place where I can make a difference. It's not about how big that difference is going to be. It's, am I willing to step up? Am I willing to stand in the gap? Am I willing to be bold even if I don't understand how it's going to affect me fully? If I don't understand how the story is going to play out at the end, God calls us to stand up for what is right. [00:16:17] (46 seconds)  #MomentOfDecision

But when we don't know the outcome, when we don't know what's going to happen next, do we choose to do the next right thing? Do we choose to stand in the place for others? Not because it makes us great. But because we want to show others who God is. Because we want to be right according to his word in all that we do. [00:17:53] (30 seconds)  #NextRightStep

Sometimes when evil is advancing through the world, the next right thing is to stand up for who you are. Not because of what I personally get for it, but because that's what you said is right. [00:19:24] (21 seconds)  #CourageToPersist

Give us the courage to say no. Give us the courage to keep doing the next right thing even when we're in danger. Who knows? You may have placed us exactly where we are in this moment for just a time like this. [00:19:48] (33 seconds)  #PurposeForThisTime

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