Resolved By Faith

When Faith Requires Everything: The Courage to Risk It All
What would you do if following God meant putting everything on the line? Your reputation, your comfort, your relationships, even your life itself?

It's a question most of us would rather not answer. We prefer our faith comfortable, predictable, and safe. We like knowing what comes next, having our plans neatly arranged, and keeping our spiritual lives separate from the messy complications of the real world.
But real faith—the kind that moves mountains—rarely stays within those boundaries.

The Woman Who Risked Everything
The story of Esther presents us with one of the most compelling examples of courageous faith in Scripture. Here was a young Jewish woman who found herself in an impossible situation, thrust into royalty through circumstances beyond her control, hiding her true identity in a foreign king's palace.

When we meet Esther, she's living what many would consider a dream life. She's queen, pampered and protected, enjoying luxuries most could only imagine. She has security, status, and the favor of the most powerful man in the empire.

Then comes the moment that changes everything.

Her adoptive father Mordecai brings devastating news: a plot has been set in motion to annihilate all the Jewish people throughout the kingdom. And he asks the unthinkable—that Esther risk everything by approaching the king uninvited, a move that could cost her life.

Esther's initial response is painfully human. She lists all the reasons why she can't do what's being asked. The law is clear: anyone who approaches the king without being summoned faces death unless he extends his golden scepter. And it's been thirty days since the king has called for her.

The excuses are valid. The fear is real. The risk is enormous.

For Such a Time as This
Mordecai's response cuts through every rationalization: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:13-14)

These words contain a powerful truth: God will accomplish His purposes with or without us. His plans don't depend on our participation. But when we choose to step out in faith, we get the privilege of being used by Him for something far greater than ourselves.
Mordecai reminds Esther—and us—that our positions, our opportunities, our very lives may have been orchestrated for a specific divine purpose. What if you're exactly where you are right now "for such a time as this"?

The Response of Resolved Faith
After three days of fasting and prayer, Esther makes her decision. Her words echo across the centuries: "I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish" (Esther 4:16).
If I perish, I perish.

Five words that capture the essence of surrendered faith. Esther chooses to risk everything—her comfort, her security, her very life—to be obedient to what she knows God is calling her to do.

Before she acts, notice what she does: she calls for fasting and prayer. She prepares spiritually. She invites others to join her. She doesn't rush into courage; she steeps herself in dependence on God.

Then she steps forward.

What's remarkable about the book of Esther is that God's name never appears in it. Not once. Yet His presence is unmistakable on every page. His protection, His provision, His perfect timing—it's all there, woven through circumstances that could only be orchestrated by a sovereign God.

Even when God seems absent, He is at work. Even when we can't see Him, He sees us—and that's all that matters.

The Risks of Real Faith
Consider what Esther risked—and what we risk when we truly follow God:
Reputation: Esther was a nobody who became a queen. Following God's call meant potentially being exposed, criticized, misunderstood. For us, it might mean being labeled, dismissed, or mocked for our faith.

Comfort: Esther had to leave the safety of her routine and step into terrifying uncertainty. Real faith pulls us out of our comfort zones and into places that require courage.
Relationships: Esther risked her relationship with her adoptive father and her husband the king. Sometimes obedience to God creates tension in our closest relationships.
Security: "If I perish, I perish" means throwing security out the window. For us, it might mean financial uncertainty when we choose generosity, or physical risk when we serve in dangerous places.

Plans: Esther surely had plans for her life that didn't include confronting a king and risking execution. God's call often disrupts our carefully laid plans.

A Faith That Risks Nothing
Here's the uncomfortable truth: a faith that risks nothing is probably nothing.
Real faith requires action. It demands courage. It costs something.
Think of Harriet Tubman, born into slavery, who gained her freedom and then risked everything to go back—again and again—to lead others to freedom. She could have stayed safe. Instead, she chose to be used by God to liberate seventy to eighty people, and later served as a spy during the Civil War.

Or imagine a father standing below a burning house, calling to his son on the roof to jump. The boy protests: "I can't see you!" The father replies, "But I can see you, and that's all that matters."

That's faith. Jumping when you can't see, trusting that God sees you and will catch you.

What Risk Is God Calling You To?
So here's the question that matters: What risk is God calling you to take in faith?
Maybe it's being open about your faith in places where you've kept it hidden. Perhaps it's stepping out of comfortable routines to serve in ways that stretch you. It could be having difficult conversations with family members who need to hear about Jesus, even if it creates tension.

Maybe it's surrendering your financial security and stepping into generosity, trusting God to provide. Or it could be releasing your carefully crafted life plans and saying, "Lord, make my plan Your plan."

Whatever it is, remember this: God will accomplish His purposes. The question is whether you'll choose to be part of His story or watch from the sidelines as He uses someone else.
Esther's resolved faith resulted in the salvation of her people. Her courage changed history.
Your faith, your courage, your willingness to risk it all for God—it matters more than you know.

If I perish, I perish. But let me be used by God.