Without faith, it is IMPOSSIBLE to please Him!!!

Esther 4: 13-14

Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. 14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

The story is familiar. God's chosen people were at risk. Another evil man was plotting to destroy their whole nation.  During this time, God was handpicking a young woman with a faithful heart to be the next queen.  At any time in the story, she could have backed out of the plan God had for her life.  She could have refused to be presented before the king, she could have hidden herself away instead of obeying her uncle's request to go before the king and plead for the lives of their people. She at any time could have said, "I'm too plain, I'm not special enough, I don't have what it takes." She could have turned her back and allowed her people to perish at the hands of the enemy.

On the other hand, God could have sent deliverance to the Jewish people in ANY manner He chose. He could have sent lions to destroy Haman, along with the king and all who plotted against them. He could have sent famine, floods, hurricanes, or swarms of locusts. 

Yet God in His wise provision, in weaving His story of humanity on the face of the earth, seemed to have written into the code that He does not work outside of our faith and faithfulness.  He consistently chooses the little people, the weak, the plain, and the simple, and fills their hearts with boldness and courage. He seems to need to work through humans to accomplish His purposes on the earth.

Take the example in Matthew 9: 20-22 of the woman with the issue of hemorrhaging. She decided that if she could just get to Jesus, and touch the hem of his clothing, she would be healed. She then set out to do exactly that. She crawled through the crowds to touch the hem of Jesus' garment. When she reached Him and grasped the fabric of his robe in her fingertips, she was immediately made whole. Jesus confronted her idea that there was something special about touching His clothing when He told her "Your faith has made you whole."  She had suffered with the issue of hemorrhaging for 12 years, and Jesus obviously knew about this woman because Jesus is God in the flesh. Why did He wait until she came to Him for healing? And why didn't He speak "Thou shalt be healed!" as He sensed her struggling through the crowd to touch Him?  Again, God chose to await the woman to come forward in faith, and He healed her in the manner she believed in.  If she would have approached Him and asked Him to speak over her, He probably would spoken words and healed her.  Instead, He needed to wait for her to decide in her heart how she believed He would heal her. He needed to wait and work through HER faith!  In the surrounding verses, Jesus was asked to come and touch the little girl who lay dying at home. Jesus did as He was asked -- He followed the lead of their faith. He touched the little girl and healed her. 

Young David, when he was still too small to wear the king's armor, defeated Goliath, the monstrous giant who towered over him speaking threats and blasphemies against the God of Israel. Why did God not take down Goliath sooner? He could have dropped him with a heart attack, a stroke, or caused him to stumble off a cliff.  But God, in His wisdom, set up the rules of the earth in such a manner that He needed a young shepherd boy to stand up in faith and launch a stone from a sling.  David brought his small ability, offering what all that he had. It was just some straps of leather, some stones from the ground, and good aim. These were nothing in comparison to the spear and sword wielded by gigantic Goliath.  But David also had faith, and boldly proclaimed that we must defeat this giant! God chose to work through his faith and faithfulness to accomplish His purpose and win the war against the Philistines.

We see another example of this in Exodus 17. In the battle against the Amalekites, God needed Moses to raise his arms and hold up his rod while the battle raged.  When Moses grew tired, and his arms drooped to his sides, Israel began to lose the war.  Aaron and Hur stepped in to hold up Moses' arms so the rod would remain lifted, and in this manner they won the war.  Again, did God actually need Moses to do this? Is God's power limited to a stick being lifted in the air?  No, rather, God chooses not to work on the earth without our participation. He chooses to use our faith in order to win each and every battle.

When God created humans, He commanded us to take charge of the earth.  Genesis 1 informs us of God's plan to partner with us, giving us authority over the plants, animals, and the whole kingdom He had just created!  There are countless other examples in Scripture that point us to God's expectation that if we want Him to work, He needs to work through US - through OUR faith! As Jesus prepared to leave earth and return to Heaven, He informed His disciples that it was their responsibility to carry His plans throughout the earth.  They were to faithfully heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons.  He even told them that they would do greater, more impressive miracles than He did, because He was leaving earth. They would have the Holy Spirit living within them and empowering them to boldly do as Jesus did for the rest of their lives.

God is not looking for the mighty men and women. He does not need someone to be intelligent, rich, famous, popular, a social media icon, or even physically fit and strong.  He's looking for the plain, the simple, even the weak, who will say I WILL get to Jesus, even if I have to crawl my way there through the crowded streets while hemorrhaging blood! He's looking for you - if you can find the faith - He's waiting for your faith to rise up so He can work through you to change the world.