Devotional Thought of the Day:
¹²  When Mordecai received Esther’s message, ¹³  he sent her this warning: “Don’t imagine that you are safer than any other Jew just because you are in the royal palace. ¹⁴  If you keep quiet at a time like this, help will come from heaven to the Jews, and they will be saved, but you will die and your father’s family will come to an end. Yet who knows—maybe it was for a time like this that you were made queen!” ¹⁵  Esther sent Mordecai this reply: ¹⁶  “Go and get all the Jews in Susa together; hold a fast and pray for me. Don’t eat or drink anything for three days and nights. My servant women and I will be doing the same. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. If I must die for doing it, I will die.” ¹⁷  Mordecai then left and did everything that Esther had told him to do. Esther 4:12-17 (TEV)

29    The limited and pitiful happiness of the selfish man, who withdraws into his shell, his ivory tower … is not difficult to attain in this world. But that happiness of the selfish is not lasting. For this false semblance of Heaven are you going to forsake the Joy of Glory without end?  (1)

There are times in our lives where we want to runaway.

There are times we want to run because of conflict, and we think that peace is found in avoidance.  

There are times we want to run away because of the sacrifice we know we will need to make.  Sometimes it is not even a major sacrifice, sometimes it is an inconvenience.

There are other times, when we are weary, when we are afraid, when we just want some time to kick back, and rest, because the battle is to hard, the suffering we encounter is to overwhelming.

There are also times when we need to retreat, when we need to walk away and pray. There are times I struggle with this more than I struggle with staying.  Sometimes it is a war within myself, as I question myself.  Should we stay in place, even beyond our strength?  Should we run?

We have to ask a couple of questions, even seek out a confidant to help us examine our situation. We need to ask Why and Where.

Why – am I simply running for my own comfort, my own survival? There is a point, like Esther faced, where running was a matter of selfish self-preservation.  A door was opened so that she could do God’s will, in this case to save the people of God.  There is a time for a rest, to be ready to re-enter the fray, that is the idea of the sabbath.

Where – This is ahar question.  Do I want to run to where the grass is greener, where there appears to be more peace, an easier life?  Or do I need to find  cave like Elijah, a place to find respite and allow God to bring healing. (if you have encountered this before, you know that it isn’t the easier path.)  Am I running from God, or to Him?  We need the latter.

Ultimately, the answer isn’t found in a logical examination of our thoughts and desires. And our perceptions can be shaded, and if our lives are turbulent, our thoughts may be as well.  The answer is going to found, not in whether we run or not, but whether we realize we are in God’s presence wherever we are. When we realize his unexplainable peace, a peace so different from the world, can sustain us in the harshest of times.  That is the key in the times that challenge us and make us want to run, and in the times where we need to find rest and a time of prayer and communion.

Ultimately, it boils down to this:  are you where you are at for such a time as this?  To be there, that people would know the Kingdom of God is near, that His presence is there to pardon, to love, to heal?  Are you depending on your own strength, or on His?

Then you are there for a purpose – take time to rest, ot know God’s presence… and then glorify Him as He works in your life and community… bringing hope and peace, healing and love.  AMEN.

Escriva, Josemaria (2010-11-02). The Way (Kindle Locations 228-230). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.