I sometimes get stuck in the pauses of life. I take a break or time-out from something difficult in and it takes me awhile to get back to it, if I get back at all. It is easy to tell yourself that you deserve a break, or take that moment before a leap, and then talk yourself out of whatever is before you that troubles you. Life, especially a life seeking to fulfill God's purpose is about moving. God doesn't call us to be a people stuck in pause, he calls us to be a people of action.
Someone who is a good example of this is Esther. She had many different obstacles and hardships in her path, but she kept going. Don't you think that she had a moment of pause before her time with the King while she was going through the selection process? But she moved forward to become a Queen. Don't you imagine that she had a moment of pause before she walked into the throne room before him unsummoned? But she went in anyway. I'd also imagine she had a moment of pause before admitting her heritage and asking for the lives of her people, but she raised her voice against the injustice. She kept moving forward, in spite of the danger and uncertainty ahead because she was equipped by the God who created her and needed by her people.
Life is hard sometimes. There are days when you need to take a step back from the picture in order to see it more clearly. There are times when you don't have anything else to give and you need to go recharge. God doesn't want us to be a people of burned-out emotional wrecks, but he did make us for a purpose. We can take pauses, but we also need to heed his call to move. God also equips us for what he calls us toward. He didn't call just call Esther to speak for her people and leave it at that, he gave her a voice and a message. In the days ahead I want to be more intentional about the steps I take and make sure my uncertainty isn't keeping me in my pauses. I want to move toward the purpose I have been made for and rest assured in the equipper and his process. May we all have bold steps in God's timing.
