Speak Up!

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?

Esther 4:14

Is it ever alright to speak up?  It should be, but in this modern world it is often a risky business.  Speaking up may require you to point out unpleasant truths.  Truths that are often uncomfortable, and yet there are times when the Holy Spirit calls us to speak up.  But how does one know when to speak up?

The Bible is littered with advocates, who spoke up when it mattered.  The likes of Moses, Nehemiah, Paul, Nathan the prophet, the persistent widow and Esther.  The common thread is that they spoke up for others, not for themselves. Jesus sets the standard when he spoke up for us, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do (Luke 23:34 NIV).

 Speaking up could save people’s lives as it did in Esther’s case.  Esther had no one but God to back her up when she spoke up for her people against the threats leveled at the Jews by Haman.  She had a lot to lose, but her uncle Mordecai convinced her to use her voice and position to speak up on behalf of those who could not speak up for themselves.  As the scripture says, maybe she had come to her royal position “for such a time as this?”  As you navigate life today, there are so many people who are unable to advocate for themselves.  Perhaps God has put you in a position to speak up for them.  Pray about it and if the Spirit leads you, speak up and do not be silent.  Silence makes us complicit.