Speaking the Truth with Grace - The Crosswalk Devotional - July 16
Speaking the Truth with Grace
By Ashley Moore
“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” - Esther 4:14, ESV
Have you ever felt prompted by the Spirit to speak up about something but feared what you had to say may not be well-received? I’ve always felt like a person God often uses to disrupt the status quo, to challenge the way things are being done just because they’ve always been done that way. My friend Laura calls this a “hard place kind of friend”, the type of friend who is willing to gently share hard-to-swallow Biblical truths even at the risk of upsetting or disappointing someone.
I often joke that God had a plow in mind when He knit me together. You know the big piece of farming equipment that breaks up the dirt, stirs the nutrients of the soil, uproots the weeds, and prepares the ground for growth? Nobody likes the plow because it comes along and disrupts the settled soil, but without the plow, growth isn’t possible.
Mordecai’s words to Queen Esther in our key verse are sobering. “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). If the Queen didn’t risk her comfort and her life to speak truth to King Ahasuerus about the Jew's impending doom, help for them would come from somewhere and someone else. And Esther would still face certain death. Talk about a tough conversation!
So what’s the hard truth we need to know here?
God Uses Us, but He Doesn’t Need Us
The Bible is clear we are invited to serve God, but He does not need us to accomplish His purposes.
“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything since he gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” - Acts 17:24-25, ESV
We Are God’s Ambassadors
An ambassador is a representative. A person sent to represent someone important to others, usually foreigners who don’t know about the important leader. Their job is to represent the person who sent them really well. We represent God well when we boldly speak up even when it feels more comfortable to stay quiet. I know it might feel scary to speak up, but the hard truth? People’s eternity is at stake. Our message could lead to someone choosing eternity with Jesus over eternal separation from Him.
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” - 2 Corinthians 5:20, ESV
The stakes were high for Mordecai and Esther; their salvation hung in the balance of Esther’s choice to remain silent or speak up for the Jewish people. Thankfully she chose courage. Let’s not be people who get passed over for opportunities to be used by God, rather, let’s rightly represent our Savior by speaking the truth with grace as He gives us opportunities to do so.
Intersecting Life and Faith:
Ask one or two trusted friends to pray that you will be emboldened with courage to speak the truth in grace as God prompts you to do so.
Further Reading
God Will Remind You What is True
A Prayer to Remember His Faithfulness and Our Value
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Sanja Radin
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