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.” Esther 4:13 (NIV)

A cup of soup, really?

Big decisions shouldn’t be made over a cup of soup. But that’s exactly what my wife and I did back in 2012. And it wasn’t even over some gourmet soup mastered at Cordon Bleu, no! It was over some simple slimy lunch soup from a Thai restaurant right across from my office building on Canyon Road in Portland, Oregon. We had been mulling over a decision to move to Africa to do what we both believed was our destiny, but the decision to move was overwhelming. Not because of the distance and the changes we had to make to accommodate this new life, but because decision-making is hard work, period. How do you make a decision that will require you to change almost everything in your life?

We all fear decisions!

When it comes to decision making, we are all that one cup of slimy Thai soup, brain-spinning, wondering what would happen if we said yes or no. Decision-making is hard work for all of us. “So how did you decide?” you ask. We considered the outcomes of not deciding. I think that sometimes we get lost in what would go wrong if we decided to do something that we forget to consider what would happen if we did not decide. It’s easier to be indecisive because we know how life will look like if we don’t decide- we will stay the same. We find comfort in this because we know how “the same” looks like. We have lived it before. But a decision to change, to move forward? That’s scary because we don’t know how the new looks like. It’s not until “the same” has become unbearable that we start to agitate for change.

Meet the decision woman!

In Esther 4:13, Mordecai asks Esther for help to save the Jews. Esther is enjoying life in the king’s palace but she is a Jew as well. She doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that there is a plot to kill all the Jews in the land; she is in the king’s palace, you know. Then Mordecai reminds her of the consequences of indecision: “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed,” he says. Esther thinks that by doing nothing, “nothing” will happen. Not true. Sometimes, and most times, “something” happens when we do “nothing.”

Trying to keep things the same changes things sometimes

Indecision is not proof that you will stay the same. Sometimes it’s proof that everything is going to change. Next time you are afraid of making a decision to change or move forward, think of the consequences and outcomes of doing “nothing.” Because sometimes, doing nothing is all you need to change everything in your life.

If we are truly afraid of change, we should be even more afraid of “no change.” Because “no change” is sometimes what you need to “change” everything.

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Conversational Questions

  1. What are some of the things you have always thought of changing but you still can’t bear seeing the old vanish?
  2. What other fears does decision-making bring to you?

Prayer Items

  • Ask God to always help you be brave for change and welcome the outcomes of your decisions.
  • Ask God to help you make the right decisions.

Live It Out

Get out of your comfort zone and make changes in your life! Try out something new. Make decisions of your own. Don’t be influenced by others.  Be yourself.