Daily Devotional
Never Surrender
Text: Esther 4:16
Go and get all the Jews living in Susa together. Fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, either day or night. I and my maids will fast with you. If you will do this, I’ll go to the king, even though it’s forbidden. If I die, I die” ( MSG)
Message
That you are divinely positioned to make a difference at critical moment should not be in doubt. Strong Prophet Samuel and his mentor Eli lost in family life because they forgot that, so they gave up on their children; the end result was calamity!
In Esther Chapter 4, we read how Esther had a different spirit and saved the Jews from extermination.
Esther became queen, enjoying a wonderful life in the palace. However, she was unaware of a decree issued by Haman—a prominent but wicked figure who held a high position in King Ahasuerus’s cabinet. Haman’s plan was to exterminate the Jews, including Esther herself.
Esther’s perspective changed when her uncle, Mordecai, sent her a message to convey the dire nature of the situation. He warned her not to be complacent as she herself, despite being queen, wouldn’t be spared should Haman execute his wicked plan.
Esther decided to go before the king to intercede for her people even though it was against the law and carried the risk of death. I love her revolutionary decision; she said, “…if I perish, I perish.” In other words, “I’m going ahead with this, even if it’s going to cost me my life.” That was the moment she won!
There comes a pivotal moment when you must make crucial decisions about your life, marriage, family and more importantly the Gospel and your role in each, just like Esther. Until you learn to make such decisions, fear may keep you in bondage. Yet it’s in those moments that fear must not hold you back.
Irrespective of the daunting challenges and the imminent perils or danger, stand your ground on the truth of God’s Word. Recognize and take advantage of God’s grace in you to win for self and for others. Have the courage to act on the truth. Make bold choices, and be willing to face anything in pursuit of what is right.
Thank God that world history is daily reiterating the truth of the scripture.
There was a time when just about every citizen of Great Britain saw Nazi Germany as an unstoppable juggernaut. Even the most optimistic knew the outlook was bleak. France was falling far more quickly than anyone had anticipated. Britain’s once indomitable military looked vulnerable, and some even considered the horrendous possibility that if defeat was likely, perhaps it might be better to let the Nazi government in rather than suffer the consequences of opposition.
With a last gasp of determination, England elected Winston Churchill to be its new Prime Minister. Churchill all but put the country on his back and reset expectations with a famous inspirational speech: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat….What is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory—victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be.”
One speech was enough to get Britain going and to instill hope, but one speech wouldn’t win a war. They still had to fight. As Britain prepared itself militarily and industrially world events grew even more grim. The horrendous but now certain reality of a homeland battle, unlike any Britain had fought for centuries, was upon them. Axis planes and soldiers would invade British airspace and land. Even London would see violence. In fact, Buckingham Palace and its grounds would be hit over a dozen times. But still they remembered: never surrender.
Most experts didn’t think Great Britain could survive. The Nazi military machine was undefeated. Joseph Kennedy, the United States Ambassador to London, was adamant in his belief that London would fall, urging the President to prepare accordingly. But still they remembered: never surrender.
Churchill got back on the wireless and delivered another astounding speech: “We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”
And they didn’t.
Britain’s victory gave the entire world hope that Hitler could be defeated. It preserved a crucial and strategic European base to fight back against the Nazi forces. If Britain had fallen the way France did, historians shudder to think what could have happened next.
Today topic resonates so hugely to my personal life and more so to my commitment to God’s purpose for my life, my salvation, deliverance, repairs, restoration, and emancipation in the land of the living.
What about you?
Don’t give up. Never, never give up. Your present life is your one and only. It is given unto man to live and die only once, after that is judgment.
May we not be guilty that we came to this world.
Amen.