What Esther Did That Most People Won't

A few weeks ago I told you that you're alive right now because God decided you needed to be.

Last week I talked about the noise. The shaking. The chaos. And why your design is the compass that doesn't move when everything else does.

This week I want to talk about Esther again.

Because there's a part of her story that I really feel we need to look at super closely right now…

Everybody Quotes Esther 4:14

"And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?"

Great verse. Famous verse. It's on coffee mugs and wall art and Instagram reels. (Honestly I love it, and feel like it’s powerful, appropriate, and important, but here’s what I’ve been hearing from the Lord on this recently)

That verse is Mordecai talking TO Esther. And when he says it, Esther hasn't done anything yet.

She hasn't gone to the king. She hasn't risked her life. She hasn't saved her people.

She's sitting in the palace, aware of the crisis, and afraid to move.

Let me say that differently.

Esther knew she was in the right place. She knew the moment was significant. She knew something had to be done.

But she almost didn't do it.

Fear Is Not The Opposite of Faith

Esther was afraid. Legitimately afraid. (VERY appropriate, VERY reasonable)

Going before the king uninvited was punishable by death. She hadn't been called in 30 days. There was no guarantee she'd be received.

She said so. "Any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being invited... is put to death." (Esther 4:11)

She wasn't being dramatic. She was being accurate.

Here's what I love about this. The Bible doesn't hide her fear. It doesn't pretend she was some fearless warrior who never hesitated.

She was scared. And she moved anyway.

That's the part most people miss.

Faith is not the absence of fear. Faith is the decision to act in spite of it. Faith doesn't wait for the fear to leave. Faith says, "I'm going in, and if I perish, I perish." (Esther 4:16)

Those are her actual words. Read them again.

"If I perish, I perish."

That's not confidence in her own ability. That's surrender to God's assignment. She counted the cost, accepted the risk, and moved.

Preparation Before Action

But notice what Esther did before she went to the king.

She didn't rush in. She didn't react emotionally. She didn't throw together a half-baked plan.

She said, "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 likewise." (Esther 4:16)

Three days. Of fasting. Of prayer. Of preparation.

In the middle of a crisis, when time was running out, when the decree to destroy her people was already signed, Esther's first move was to get aligned.

Not to get busy. To get aligned.

She understood something that a lot of us miss: action without alignment is just activity. And activity without purpose is just noise.

She got before God first. She prepared her heart. She prepared her community. She prepared her strategy.

And then she moved.

The Gap

Here's what I see in a lot of people I work with. (And if I'm being honest, in myself too.)

There's a gap between knowing your moment and moving in it.

People know they're here for a reason. They sense it. They feel the pull. They hear the whisper.

But they don't move.

Sometimes it's fear. Sometimes it's confusion. Sometimes it's just not knowing what the first step looks like.

And sometimes, call it what it is, it's the comfort of the palace.

Esther was living in a palace. She had everything she needed. She could have stayed quiet, stayed safe, stayed comfortable.

Mordecai essentially said: you think your position protects you? If you stay silent, deliverance will come from somewhere else. But you and your family will perish. (Esther 4:13-14)

Comfort is not the same as calling. And the palace is not the purpose.

The purpose is what you do from the palace.

Your Moment Is Now

I've been saying it for weeks, and I'll say it one more time.

You are alive, right now, in 2026, because God placed you here. He wired you with a specific design. He gave you a specific set of drivers, strengths, and capacities.

And the world you're sitting in, with all its chaos and noise and uncertainty, is the stage He prepared for you.

The question is not: Did God put you here?

The question is: Will you move?

Not perfectly. Not fearlessly. Not with everything figured out.

Just move.

Like Esther. Afraid, but obedient. Prepared, but surrendered. Clear about the risk, but more clear about the assignment.

Isaiah 6:8 says, "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I. Send me!'"

That's the response. Not "I'll go when I'm ready." Not "I'll go when the fear subsides." Not "I'll go when the economy stabilizes or the election is over or AI stops being confusing."

Here am I. Send me.

What This Looks Like Practically

I'm not talking about doing something dramatic. I'm talking about doing something aligned.

Aligned with your design. Aligned with your calling. Aligned with the specific wiring God put in you before you were born.

For some of you, that means starting the business. For some of you, that means having the conversation you've been avoiding. For some of you, that means stepping into a role you've been circling for months. For some of you, it means getting honest about the fact that you don't even know your own design yet.

Whatever it is, the step is clear:

Know your design. And walk it out.

Don't wait for the fear to leave. It won't.

Don't wait for the conditions to be perfect. They won't be.

Move anyway.

Your Free Copy

If you need a starting point, if you're ready to understand how God wired you and why, my book Your Divine Blueprint is the place to begin.

We're giving copies away free right now. You just cover shipping. I sign every one.

Get your free copy here → https://blueprint.goddesignedliving.com/free-book
 
Next week I'm closing out this series. I'll share what I believe God is asking of all of us in this moment, and why the next season might be the most important one you've walked through yet.

Until then, remember Esther.

She was afraid. She moved anyway.

Your turn.

Onward,
Chris Behnke

P.S. — Esther also wore her royal robes when she went before the king. (Esther 5:1) She didn't diminish herself. She didn't play small. She dressed for the assignment. There might be something in that for you too. Stop shrinking. Put on what God already gave you.