Today’s reading: Esther 4:1-17

Encountering and dealing with crisis is part of life. It’s not enjoyable, but it happens. And when serious and unexpected circumstances present themselves, emotions and feelings like fear, uncertainty, anxiety and worry can consume and cripple us if we’re not careful.

Mordecai and the Jews living in Persia are facing an extreme crisis-a literal death sentence as the result of the edict signed by King Ahasuerus at Haman’s urging. At first glance the situation appears hopeless. But even though Mordecai is distressed-tearing his clothes, putting on sack cloth and crying out to God–he doesn’t allow those things to consume him. Instead, Mordecai draws strength from God and pushes through this grave situation to take what action he can to help save his people.

How do you tend to respond when a crisis situation arises? Is it your habit to cry out to God and seek His guidance? What does Mordecai’s example show us about being an active participant in God’s plan? When we encounter difficulty, how does getting involved and looking for solutions to our situation positively impact our thinking and emotions? Tami

Source: Tami’s Blog