Are You a Planner?

I want to start with a question and I need full participation. How many of you like to know everything expected before you do something? Raise your hand if you're the planner. Most of us tend to want certainty before we act.

I'll tell you a confession from when I was growing up. Before I would ask any girl out, I would always ask a friend to ask her friend if the odds were good that she'd say yes. I wanted some form of guarantee. But then God brought me my dream girl, Amy. There was a girl who said, "You should go out with this girl named Amy. She's weird like you. She's overboard for God. You should just go be weird together."

I had never seen a photo of Amy. This was pre-social media. I couldn't stalk her. All I knew was that when she said her name was Amy, I literally wrote down her full name and felt prompted by God—this is who I'm supposed to marry. I went and looked her up in the phone book and dialed her number. I actually recorded the call because I thought maybe I could play it at our wedding.

She didn't pick up. I got her answer machine. It was the era of Top Gun, so I said, "Hey, you Christian babe. Take me to church or lose me forever." I quoted the Bible verse, "Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love." Amy nodded—it's true.

I called her back later without any guarantee, just a prompting from God and a step of faith. Most of you are like me. We want certainty before we move. But God often asks us to move before he gives us certainty.

God Asks Esther to Trust Him

That is what we're going to discover this week in Esther chapter 4. Esther is going to face the biggest decision of her life. It's a massive risk, and she's going to want some details, maybe some kind of guarantees. God doesn't give her any of that. He just asks her to trust him with the very next step.

This message will speak to some of you today because we are often stuck where we are, waiting for guarantees, when God is instead asking us for faith. He rarely ever will show you the whole plan. That's why you don't need the whole plan to take the next step.

Let's Review the Story

There are five main characters we've covered. First, the drunk King Xerxes. He throws a big party—he's probably insecure—and wants to show off his wife, Queen Vashti. She says, "No, I'm not going to be objectified," and he banishes her. They do a nationwide search to find a new queen.

Enter Esther, a Jewish girl who has to keep her identity secret. She's put through beauty treatments and, after a year, is chosen to be the new queen. Then there's her cousin Mordecai, who raised Esther because she was an orphan. He overhears a plot to kill King Xerxes and reports it, saving the king's life.

Then comes the bad guy, Haman. Mordecai doesn't bow down to honor Haman, and Haman gets very mad. He doesn't just want to kill Mordecai—he convinces the king to kill every Jewish person in the empire. And what is Esther? She's Jewish. We have a problem.

Amazingly, throughout the entire book of Esther, God's name is never mentioned. But his presence, his power, and his goodness are on every single page.

Mordecai Was Grieving

Chapter 4 is where we pick up today. Mordecai is out by the palace gates and hears about the decree. He realizes they're going to kill every Jewish person in the empire, and he's devastated.

Esther 4:1 tells us: "When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. He went out into the city wailing loudly and bitterly. But he went only as far as the king's gate because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it."

He tears his clothes and puts on sackcloth—outward, visible signs of grief and profound sadness. He's not hiding his emotions. He's telling everybody, "I am beside myself with grief over this." He's wailing, and word reaches the palace.

When Esther hears about it, she's in great distress. "Her eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai." What does she do? She sends clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth. But he will not accept them.

Esther does the very same thing we tend to do. She wants to make it better without even knowing what went wrong. Side note for marriages: If you've been married for seventeen minutes, you've had this happen. Amy says, "I'm upset about something," and I say, "I'll fix it." She says, "I don't want you to fix it. I just want to talk about it." I say, "Why do you want to talk about it if you don't want to fix it?" We've been married thirty-five years and I have not learned yet. She likes to talk about broken things. It's a marriage thing.

Esther does the same thing. There's a problem—let's just fix it. Let's deal with the symptom, not the root. We do this a lot. God is trying to do something in us, and we don't want to change. We keep distracting ourselves. We keep ignoring the problem. We deal with the symptom instead of the root. We'll do anything rather than face what God is really asking us to do. We'll scroll. We'll do things that look religious because if we really face what he's talking about, we might actually have to change.

She sends clothes. He sends them back. "No, you can't cover this. You're going to have to face it. You're going to have to deal with it."

I want to slow it down and give you the opportunity to listen to what the Holy Spirit might say to you. I really believe that for some of you, God wants to speak to you in a very real way today. God loves you too much to let you keep managing what he wants to heal. If you're just looking at the symptom, God wants to get down to the root. God wants to do a healing work in your heart.

Esther tries to fix the problem. The clothes are sent back. So now she's going to get to the root of the problem. She sends messengers to find out what's going on. Mordecai tells the messengers everything. There's a big plot, and they're going to kill all the Jewish people. When she hears this, it hits her hard. This is her people. She realizes this is her.

Esther's Big Decision

Here's what scripture tells us. Esther explains the danger to Mordecai: "All the king's officials and all the royal provinces know that if any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned, that king has but one law: they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their life."

She's saying, "If I go before the king and he hasn't called me, he can strike me dead at that very moment." She says, "Thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king." In other words, if you want me to go to the king, even though I am the queen, he doesn't play. If you're not called into his presence and he hasn't called me for a month, she tells Mordecai, "If I go in there, I am risking my life." This is a weighty decision that she has to make.

Mordecai sends the answer back. He says, "Do not think that because you're in the king's house that you alone of all the Jews escape. You and your father's family will perish." Mordecai says, "Don't you think just because you're the queen, you're going to live through this? Every Jewish person will be killed. All your loved ones. All your family. Including you."

And then he says the verse that most people know from the book of Esther. He says to her: "And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this."

Who knows, Esther, that maybe God chose you out of an ordinary life as a Jewish person and elevated you to the place of being the queen—married to the only guy who has the power to stop this. Who knows, Esther, if God hasn't chosen you for such a time as this?

For some of you, maybe you're at a moment, something in your life. It could be for your marriage. It could be for your health. It could be for your relationship with someone else, with a child. It could be your faith in God. Who knows if all sorts of things haven't been moving toward this moment today? Not everybody, but some of you—when you hear this word, God speaks to you and says, "You are not here by accident. God wants to do something through you for such a time as this."

It may be that God gives you the faith to start a ministry or a business, or to stop something that you shouldn't be doing. Confess your sin. Speak out on behalf of someone that needs help. Ask out a Christian babe or break up with a Christian dud, because you can't marry the right one if you're dating the wrong one. If you're the wrong one, don't get mad at me. You shouldn't have been the wrong one.

I'm kind of joking, but I'm really not. Maybe you're hearing this message for such a time as this. Maybe God puts you next to a person who needs to hear a conversation after this. Maybe God's going to put someone on your heart for you to reach out to. Maybe there's something God wants you to do.

Sometimes the divine moments are big. Other times the promptings are just something that happens on a Thursday afternoon. When Amy and I were at a pastor's conference, we had about three hours off in the afternoon, so we took about a twenty-minute walk to the beach. We were so excited. When I got to the beach, I felt prompted to call a friend of mine—a heavy, weighty sense that I needed to call him. But my phone was back at the hotel, twenty minutes away.

I said, "What do I do?" Amy said, "Well, if God's prompting you, you need to go back there right now. Don't stay on the beach. I'll stay here." So I went all the way back, got my phone, because I felt prompted by God.

Well, I forgot about the time zone change. It was afternoon where I was. It was about midnight where he was. My friend picked up and his voice was shaking. He said, "Why are you calling me now?" I said, "I'm so sorry. I felt this heaviness—like I was supposed to call you."

He said, "Why now?" His voice was shaking. I said, "Man, I think I was supposed to call you. Are you thinking about taking your life right now?" And he started crying. He said, "I am." I said, "Are you holding a gun in your hand?" He said, "I am."

I talked him through it. I said, "We're going to get you over to your neighbor's house. Knock on the door at midnight. Give the gun to your neighbor." When we got through all that stuff at midnight, I said, "Do you realize how much God cares about you? That I'm in another part of the world, forgetting the time zone, prompted to go all the way back to call you at this moment? Because God has so much more for you."

And he sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. That was just a prompting when I wanted to be on the beach. It didn't feel like a "for such a time as this." It just was: call a buddy that you care about. Honestly, it felt inconvenient—a long walk back to the hotel. But God knew what I didn't. God knew at that moment there was someone that he loved that needed hope. He prompted me to go give him a little bit of hope.

Sometimes "such a time as this" doesn't feel like a burning bush. It feels like a nudge. It feels like an inconvenience. But the good news is that God knows what you don't. He knows all things, and he puts you where you are for his divine purposes.

Esther recognizes this. She feels the weight of the situation. She's the queen, married to the only person that has the power to stop this. Her people could die. She may be the only one alive who can do something about it.

Esther Takes Action

So what does she do? She goes to her community and asks them to fast and to pray for her. She goes to her people. Look at the text:

Esther 4:15: "Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 'Go gather together all the Jews who are in Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, after my people have prayed for me, I will go to the king even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.'"

Fast for me. Pray for me. The first thing she does is go to her people and ask them to pray.

Do you have your people? Do you have the people in your life whenever you're prompted to go and take a step of faith that you can immediately text, immediately call, and say, "I need prayer"?

I'm going to tell you right now, I have had one of those weeks. Whether I want to preach or not, weekends come and it doesn't matter what's going on outside. You stand up and you preach. I texted two of my people and said, "Pray. Pray." Why? Because I got my people, and I need prayer.

Do you have your people? Do you have those people? I'm telling you, if you don't, I'm saying it week after week after week: you need those people. Those people need you. Christianity is not a solo sport. We best experience the power and the presence of God together. Going to church and just sitting in rows is not the same as sitting in circles with your people. If you don't have your people, find your people.

Esther didn't have any guarantee. Approaching the king could cost her her life. She didn't feel ready. Listen, when God prompts you for such a time as this: make the call. Start the thing, whatever it is. Apologize and ask for forgiveness. Reach out to the person who doesn't know you. You're not going to feel ready when God calls you to do it. You're going to have a choice: stay safe, stay silent, stay still—or simply take the next step.

One step. "I'll go do it. I'll go put myself before the king. If I die, I die. If he extends the scepter, I'll live. This is what God put on my heart. I have to take the next step."

This message is so heavy on my heart because so many right now, you're stuck. You love God, and you're just stuck. The reason why so many people are stuck is this: while you're waiting for clarity, God's waiting for trust. You want details. God just wants you to take a step of faith.

Again, this isn't everybody, but this is some of you. Maybe God's been positioning you for longer than you know. Every detail is actually leading toward this moment. I promise you, he is not asking you to have it all figured out. You don't have to have all the details. Sometimes you just have to look her up in the phone book, make the phone call, and believe that God might do something through your crazy voice message.

God is just asking you to take the next step.

Take The Next Step

So what I want to do is ask you: what's your next step?

I prayed about this, and I didn't know whether to do it or not, but I decided we're going to do it. There's a little card on your seat. Grab these cards. All right, let's grab them. As your pastor, I'm going to love you today. I'm going to push you just a little bit. Everyone wave your cards.

What I'm going to do is ask you—and I'm just going to lovingly push you. I've given you enough categories here where your next step is somewhere here. What I'd love for you to do is grab a pen, give us your name and a contact. The reason is because we want to pray for you. You say, "Oh man, that's invasive." Absolutely! I can't let you come to church and leave without letting us love each other together.

What we want to do is give us a chance to pray for you, reach out, and just say, "How can we help in any way?" I want you to think about what is your next step. And I'm going to ask everybody to do this. Even if you're not a Christian, let's all do it together. What I want you to do is tell me: what's your next step? Here are some categories:

Attend. Those of you that just came back because you haven't been here all summer—let's make church every time we're in town a regular part of what we do. You're not going to grow spiritually if you're not in the presence of God with God's people. Church is not just some place we go. It's a body. It's who we are.

Serve. You're not going to grow spiritually if you're not in the presence of God with God's people. Someone else loves on your kids every single week. You're gifted by God with spiritual gifts to make a difference in his body. If you're not doing something, there's something he wants to be done that's not being done.

Tithe. God's been speaking to some of you. You know it's time to take that step of faith. You don't have all the details. God says, "Test me in this. Try it."

Find Community. I've been talking about this a lot. It matters a lot. You will never become a fully devoted follower of Christ without the people that God wants in your life to pray for you, love you, support you. You need to love and support them as well.

Take a Step of Obedience. This is big enough for anything for you. It's that conversation that you've been avoiding. It's confessing that sin. It's a child that you need to fight for. It's someone that you need to invite to church. It's someone you need to be a witness to. It's the person that God is prompting you to forgive and you haven't forgiven them yet. It's the walk across the beach to make the call. Something personal for you.

Get Baptized. There are those of you that have never been baptized. This is part of being a follower of Christ. We publicly declare our sins have been forgiven. We put you in a pool that symbolizes your sins are being washed away. Some of you did that when you were a kid and you don't remember. Maybe you decide to do it. Tell us, and we'll help you do it next time.

Follow Jesus. Your next step is to stop living for yourself and to live for the one who gave his life for you—to follow Jesus.

Be real prayerful about it. Maybe your prayer today will sound a little bit like Esther's: "God, I don't know the details. I don't know how this is going to end. But I believe you put me here for this moment to hear from you and to take a step. So I'm going to trust you with the outcome. I don't know where this is going to go, but God, I'm going to trust you."

Fill out the card and say it with me: "God, I trust you."

Let's try it again, all of our churches. One, two, three: God, I trust you.

Now, real slowly, from your heart, I want you to think about it. What's God calling you to do? What's your next step?

Scary? Take some faith. If you're living in that secret sin that you haven't overcome yourself, let's confess it. If your relationship's not where it's supposed to be, let's not pretend like it is. Let's talk about it. If you drifted from God and you know it, let's cry out to him. Step back and say, "I want to be close to you." What is your next step?

Report it, and when you're ready, at the count of three, say: "God, I trust you. One, two, three: God, I trust you."

God, I Trust You

Heavenly Father, we do trust you. You're faithful. You're good. Your word is always true. God, I pray that the power of the Holy Spirit would help us individually take one step forward. Corporately, God, that our church would be stronger because together we're all stepping toward you.

Holy Spirit, show us all what is our next step. God, we'll talk about it in our life group. We'll talk about it over dinner. We'll talk about it over lunch. God, if there's someone here that needs that community, God, I pray that you would surround us with the right people. Give us the courage to reach out, to make an ask. Show us where to serve. Give us the faith to tithe. Draw us close to you.

Whatever you call us to do, God, if I perish, I perish. If you're faithful, God, we're going to see your faithfulness. We believe you will be faithful as we take the next step.

As you keep praying today, just sit in the presence of God. Just wait on him as he speaks to you. Speak to us, God. Speak to us. We need you. Guide our steps, God. We know you won't show us all the details, but God, we trust you with the next step.

For some of you, your next step is to step away from your sinful nature and step toward the grace of God. I'm going to make this as clear as I can, because it is the best news I could ever share with you.

The bad news is that we've all messed up. You've done it. You've told lies. You've hurt people. You've done things you're embarrassed by. The Bible calls that sin. It's not a popular word. It's a biblical word. It's a real word. We've all sinned. I have. You have. We all have. Our sin separates us from God.

The good news is that God's gift of salvation is not based on our good works. Our sins can be forgiven by the grace of God through faith in Jesus. Scripture tells us that we're not saved by our own works, but by God's grace—by putting faith in Jesus.

Who is Jesus? He is the perfect, sinless Son of God who died on a cross to pay the price for our sins. Three days later, God raised him from the dead so that anyone—and this includes you—who calls on his name would be saved, transformed, forgiven.

There are those of you that God brought here today for such a time as this. You know it. You can sense it. You're tired of doing life on your own. You're tired of wondering where you stand with God. You're tired of feeling guilty for your sins.

When you call on the name of Jesus, he hears your prayers. He forgives your sins. He makes you brand new. He fills you with the Spirit of God. Now you have access. You can come boldly before his throne of grace to find help in your time of need.

You are not here by accident. What you feel in your heart is the divine providence of God. He brought you here for this moment. For such a time as this, step away from your old life. Step into your new life.

At all of our churches today, if you recognize that's you—today is the day of your salvation—for such a time as this, I choose to follow Jesus. I give my life to him. That's your prayer. Lift your hands high right now. Lift them up high.

Others of you right back over there. Praise God for you. Others today say, "Yes, Jesus, I surrender. Be the Lord of my life." Right back over here and over here as well. Oh, church, can we praise God?

Online, you can just type in the comment section: "I'm surrendering my life to Christ."

Would you all just pray together? Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father, thank you that I'm in your presence. When others come to know you, forgive all of my sins. Save me, Jesus. Be the Lord of my life—first in every single way. Holy Spirit, fill me so I could know you and take the next step. Show me step by step so I can follow you. I'm walking with you, showing your love, doing your will. My life is not my own. I give it all to you. Give me wisdom to take the next step. Give me faith to take the next step. Help me to glorify you by taking the next step. You have all of my life because I trust you. In Jesus' name I pray.

Come on, church. Let's give God praise today.