Bite the Bullet – I know, it’s a phrase…one that I have been saying a lot lately. It means to decide to do something difficult that one has been putting off or hesitating over. It is to endure a painful or otherwise unpleasant situation that seems unavoidable. The phrase was first recorded by Rudyard Kipling in his 1891 novel, “The Light that Failed.” Historically, it derives from the means by which a patient coped with the extreme pain of a surgical procedure without anesthetic -by biting a bullet or a leather strap. The latter seems more feasible to me, but the former makes for great story telling! In philosophy, bite the bullet means to accept the unpleasant consequences of one’s assumed beliefs…(Wikipedia) I know, that’s deep! Sometimes our pain is really only as deep or excruciating as we imagine it to be. We think doing this thing, or having this conversation is just going to kill us…but that’s only because we anticipate it.
Queen Esther bit the bullet- finally summoning up the courage to go before her husband, King Xerxes, to plead on behalf of her people. She faced potential death for going without being called first. Esther’s distress was so great that she asked all of the Jews in Susa to pray and fast for her for 3 days without eating or drinking. Then she said, “When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16, NIV) Now, thousands of years later, we read and celebrate Esther’s courage, and the triumph
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of the Jewish people over Haman and their enemies. The evil forebodings and misgivings that were in her heart and mind prior, had caused her to procrastinate in her role as the deliverer. Her cowardice was confronted by her uncle Mordecai, “Indeed, if you are silent at this time, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows but that you were brought to the kingdom for a time like this?” (Esther 4:14, ISV) Esther’s assumption that she would perish if she did the hard thing kept her stalled. She could not do what the Lord had called her to do, or become the deliverer she was meant to be until she bit the bullet. The outcome she thought would result, was really only a figment of her imagination. Not only did she NOT perish, but she has been celebrated as a heroine throughout all history ever since! Releasing control of the outcomes actually liberated Esther and her people!
There are times when God is requiring that we bite the bullet. The negative ways that we have assumed that things will turn out may be emotionally charged fabrications. Sometimes the only way we’ll know is to take that bite!
New Life Covenant Cincinnati Sunday at 11:00 AM
Urban Artifact
1660 Blue Rock Street
Cincinnati OH 45223
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