Live Free with Josh Howerton - Surrendering Our Fears | Ep. 194 | Thursday, November 2, 2023

Episode Date: November 2, 2023

Esther asked her people to pray for her as she prepared to approach the king. She had kept her identity a secret but was willing to lay it all on the line, including her own life, for them. The enemy wants us to submit to our fear, but God is bigger than anything we might face in our lives. We can trust Him no matter what we are going through. What fears do you need to hand over to God this week? For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. Church slash daily drive. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome to the Daily Drive. My name is Mike, and this week we're learning some things about courage through the story of a girl named Esther. If you missed any of the episodes, go back and catch up because her story is absolutely riveting. And today, we are on episode four, and we're just going to call it Braveheart. After hearing Mordecai is inspiring for such a time as this speech, where he challenges Esther to grab some courage and use her position as Queen to stop. the planned annihilation of her people, the Jews. There's an internal shift in Esther. She sends back a message telling Mordecai to have the Jewish people fast and pray for her for three days. By the way,

never underestimate the importance of having people pray for us when we need little courage. I had to deliver a difficult message a while back, one that was full of uncomfortable but much-needed truth, and I was scared. But a bunch of people told me that they were praying for me, and I'm telling you, it really did fill me with courage. It made me remember the scripture that tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but want to power, love, and self-discipline. So Esther asked the people, please pray for me.

And then she tells Mordecai, when this is done, I will go to the king, even though it's against the law. And if I perish, I perish. Man, this is so cool to me. She goes from, this is way too big of an ass, This is way too risky. This is way too much. This really isn't a good time. I could die for even approaching him. Just saying, Mordeca, you know what? You're right. Perhaps this is the reason I'm here. If not me, then who? If not now, then when? I have to do this. I am the only one who can go to the king. And if I perish, well, I perish. It is so cool how she moves from the mindset of self-preservation to bold courage.

And, gang, she could have chickened out. She could have stayed comfortable in her royal room. She could have played it safe and just let it all play out. But she didn't. And listen, you may be sitting there, full of regret for all the opportunities you think you might have missed. All the times that you've chosen comfort over courage and character, I got a few regrets like that too.

But I'm telling you, no matter how big of a coward you may have been, no matter how far away from the opportunity you might have run, no matter how inadequate or underqualified you still feel, no matter how much of your life you have lived in self-preservation mode, you too could be just one brave decision away from breaking that same old storyline and plunging yourself into a brand new adventure of faith, freedom, hope, and God's purposes. I can tell you from my own experience, my life and character have grown in direct proportion to my courage. The times that I've taken a deep breath and swallow really hard,

and walk to the edge of all the faith I had, and then I stepped out just following the lead of Jesus, man, I look back, and I think what adventures I would have missed out on if I had decided just to maintain my comfort? I mentioned this a little while back, but it might help you to do this practice this week. My wife Deb did a Bible study several years ago where there was this little fill-in-the-blanks exercise

that helped her with all this. You see, Esther had to fill-in-the-blanks, too. she said those powerful words in verse 16 of chapter 4, If I perish, then I perish. And using that sentence, I want us to think about how we all fill in our own blanks. Just write down somewhere, if blank, then blank. If blank, then blank.

In that first blank, think about a fear that you have. Could be your worst fear, could be a current fear or reoccurring fear, but think about a fear you've gotten that first blank. If the biopsy comes back positive, if the bank forecloses on her home, I'm pregnant, if she files for divorce, if I don't make the team, just put your greatest fear in that first blank. Now let me tell you what our enemy wants us to do.

He wants us to dwell on that fear. He wants us to focus on it. He wants us to obsess about it, to turn it over and over in our minds. He wants it to mess with us. He wants us to start believing that if blank ever happened, then we would just be done, that there would be no way we could ever recover, no way we would ever get up from that. blank happening. That's why it's so crucial to fill in the second blank with this before you ever fill in that first blank, no matter what goes in the first blank. This is what we have to

put in that second blank ahead of time. If blank, then God. If blank, then God. If my worst fear happens, well, then God. He will be enough for me. He will pick me back up. He will be my strength. He will be all that he says he is and he will do all that he promises to do because my God is bigger than my blank and I will trust him. And that's Esther's resolve. So why not grab a piece of paper or open up your phone or your tablet or your laptop and just write down if blank then God? And fill in that first blank and start giving him your fears and anxiety. And we'll see you back tomorrow. Have a great day.

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