The NIV 365 Day Devotional
Courage to Act
6 So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate. 7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 8 He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.
9 Hathak went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. 10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.”
12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 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?”
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “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, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”Esther 4:6-16
When something new comes to be, we can be sure there was courage in the background, propelling it forward. As the quality of heart and head that resists and challenges the status quo, courage is the fuel of possibility.
Recovery is creation of new realities. If fear and panic dominated our old attitude toward life, then courage — even if it is a tiny spark — is what enables us to act as if we are confident until we, in fact, become confident. If a sense of alienation and aloneness was our reality, it is courage that tugs us out of the corner and into the group, courage that opens our mouths to speak and courage that keeps us there until fellowship becomes more real than alienation ever was.
Courage is a key. It opens the door to kindness, wisdom and honesty. But unless we use that key, we’ll never get to the other side of the door.
Taken from the NIV Recovery Devotional Bible.