De Neve Cyndie Claypool - Unshaken

Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

P SALM 62:1-2

P etrified, the young woman took a step forward. With neither a mother nor a father to lean on for guidance, she strived to listen to her godly guardian. He was telling her to go, to step out in faith, but she was frightened. Why her? Why now? What if she was chosen?

The prize for winning this beauty pageant was more than a crownit was a whole kingdom. And young Esther wasnt sure she wanted to win. After all, she would wind up married to someone she knew only from the troubling stories she had overheard: stories of a king who had banished his wife for not coming when he demanded! Yet the beautiful teen trusted God and followed the path He had set before her. She had no idea at the moment of her feeble obedience that her one action would ultimately save her people from possible extinction.

Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this? encouraged Mordecai, her guardian and cousin (Esther 4:14). God helped Esther, who was probably no older than a high school freshman, to stand unshaken as she took a bold step of faith to save her people. She told Mordecai, 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 as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish (verse 16).

Did you catch that? If I perish, I perish. As she stood resolutely in the face of uncertainty, anguish, and possible death, she had no doubt what might be at stake. How does a young woman develop such inner strength? How does she remain unshaken? What was that fortitude that kept her persevering even in the face of possible death for herself and her people?

Her guardian, Mordecai, probably raised her upon the principles presented in Deuteronomy 6:5-7: Love the L ORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Even though Esther was an orphan, her guardian must have so impressed those principles on her heart that at a pivotal moment in history she became a beautiful depiction of Psalm 16:8: I keep my eyes always on the L ORD . With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Esther no doubt kept her eyes on the Lorddwelling on the promises and attributes of God. As soon as we focus our minds on our heavenly Father, our earthly problems seem so minor in comparison to His might. For Esther, hers were no small problems. She faced an agonizing dilemma of catastrophic significance. And what did she do? She fasted, and called others to fast along with her.

Turning Our Focus to God

What do most of us do when were stressed? Yep, thats right! As the saying goes, Stressed spelled backward is desserts. But young Esther did not call on her ever-willing attendants to find her some delicious morsel. She didnt dive for the ice cream or scour around for chocolate, confiscating the M&Ms out of the trail mix. She didnt collapse on the couch, requesting a glass of wine. She did quite the oppositeshe fasted.

The purpose of fasting is to focus all that attention we give to food onto God. Imagine if we did that every time we felt stressed. Imagine if instead of plopping in front of the couch with our favorite Netflix show and a huge bowl of hot-fudge-drenched ice cream, we sat down with our Bibles, pouring out our hearts before the God of all wisdom, letting Him speak to us through His infallible Word. Imagine the peace that would fill our hearts if we called a friend and prayed together over the phone. Or imagine how small our problems would seem if we intentionally began to pray through these four steps of prayer: praise, confession, thanksgiving, and intercession?

As you will discover during our journey together, when we cast our problems in the light of who God is, our once-enormous stresses begin to dwindle in comparison to the size of our great God! If each day we strive to keep our focus on our Creator, then when lifes roadblocks and stressful situations come barreling into our path, we will look to the Lord in prayer as our first response, not our last resort.

I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand (Psalm 16:8-11).

The right hand was saved for the place of honor. Even in times of heart-pounding stress, when we place God first, He makes our hearts glad and fills us with joy in His presence. And look at the result in verse 11. He makes known to me the path of life.

Clinging with Confidence

We have seen women in over 140 countries stand unshakensome in the face of great danger for themselves and their families. One day at the Moms in Prayer International headquarters, we received a call from a surprisingly calm group leader who wanted to let us know ISIS was invading her land and she was migrating with her family to a safer location. This mom clung to the truths she learned through the powerful four steps of prayer (which will be explored further in part 2). She knew without question that God would guide her and her family. Even as evil surrounded her, she was not shaken.

Can you imagine the fear that could have gripped her heart? Yet she stood confident in Christs power to overcome. Most of us will probably never face what Esther did or what the prayer warrior fleeing ISIS endured. Yet every day provides opportunities to remember to stand firm in Christ.

For me (Cyndie), watching my sister Cathy Chan stand strong despite wave after wave of devastating health news for her husband and her newborn granddaughter was both harrowing and inspiring. She is the one who introduced me to Moms in Prayer and helped me start my very first prayer group. Now, as she boldly allowed friends and family to weather the storms with her, she was a great example of living an unshaken life, with her eyes focused firmly on the Lord.

My Soul Finds Rest in God Alone

For Cathy, the ominous potential for death in her family was overwhelming. The heartache was palpable, yet she turned to God with unwavering faith. She meditated on Psalm 62:1-2 many times a day. Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Time and time again, alongside other moms, Cathy had witnessed the power of prayer while lifting up the concerns of their public high school and the vulnerable teens navigating a torrential storm of temptations and drama. Then she found herself clinging to those same principles of prayer.

After open-heart surgery, Cathys husband, Dickson, was cleared, somewhat miraculously, for a kidney transplant. The business owner and father of four boys needed to find a kidney match. Frail and never too far from his dialysis machine, Dickson soon realized the Creator of the universe had been preparing his new kidney since he was a child growing up in Brazil. No one would ever have guessed that his childhood schoolmate, Dave Santos, a Caucasian son of missionaries, would one day be a perfect kidney match for Dickson, a Chinese immigrant to Brazil and then to the United States. Two years after the transplant, Dickson and Dave the Donor are both doing extremely well, thanks to God graciously answering the many prayers of friends from around the globe.