Authority was not a subject that much interested me until I saw its connection to great faith. When I was writing Humble Alley, the Lord had me reread the Bible story of the Centurion who came to Jesus seeking healing for his paralyzed servant. Other times my focus had been on Jesus marveling at the Centurion’s great faith because that’s what I was hoping for. This time I saw the Centurion’s humility when even though Jesus said he would come and heal his servant, he said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof.” I wanted to share then how I’d made the connection between great faith and humility but waited because I’d also seen another connection to great faith–the understanding of authority.
The Centurion believed Jesus didn’t need to actually come to heal his servant. He told Jesus, “But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.” He then explained why he believed, “For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” It was the Centurion’s understanding of authority that caused Jesus to marvel. In Authority Pass, I was given my own understanding of authority. It came through a powerful word from the Lord, a promotion, and a new way of looking at authority.
Before going to our Bible study group, my Leader in the sound booth, Shelley, and I set up the microphones, ready for the Children’s Ministry performance. On my way back to the sound booth after group, Nancy, our higher up, mentioned that she had readjusted the microphones according to the Children’s Director’s instructions. While the children were taking their places on stage, one of the teachers came and told Shelley and me that the microphones weren’t set up correctly for the children. As she started to tell us how they should be, I spoke up and said, “Nancy has them set to Barb’s instructions.” The teacher stopped and said, “Ok, that settles it.” She then turned and walked away. Wow, that was easy, I said, as Shelley and I looked at each other amazed at how quickly she agreed.
Later that night, as I was falling asleep, I wondered what caused the teacher to so quickly surrender her plan. Thinking it had something to do with the Children’s Director having more authority than the teacher, I concluded that it was the use of Barb’s name. I also thought if Nancy hadn’t told me she had adjusted the microphones to Barb’s instructions, who knows how it could have turned out. That’s when I felt the Lord say to me, “It should work the same with My Name.” Wow! Immediately I knew I’d been given a powerful lesson.
The authority lessons continued in a more practical sense when I received a promotion. Near the end of the year, Nancy and Shelley told me they would not be returning to Bible study the following year due to personal life changes. What? But that would mean I’d be the only one left that knew anything! Don’t worry, they said, they would train someone to work with me, which they did. They trained three. One to replace Nancy and two in Shelley’s place to work with me in the sound booth.
When the new year began, I was invited to join the Leaders group. How fun, I thought, to be back in the Leader’s group where I learned so much during the two years as a Children’s Teacher. I hadn’t yet put it together that I was the new Leader in the sound booth. I didn’t actually find out until I was introduced to the group as the new Lead Tech. I was so surprised, I didn’t know what to say. So, what I was thinking just came out of my mouth, “I didn’t know I was Lead Tech! I thought I was Co-Tech!” And everyone laughed. Afterward, I remembered, tucked amidst the tough lessons on humility, I’d learned that the Lord promotes the faithful. At the time, I hadn’t considered it much more than motivation for making my way through Humble Alley, but suddenly, there it was.
Another lesson came while listening to Curry Blake’s CD on the Authority of the Kingdom. I thought I knew what authority was, but Curry renamed it in such a way that made it abundantly clear to me. When he said that authority is nothing more than “Pre-Permission,” I understood it completely. A couple of days before, a client gave me pre-permission to decide how many of his prescription forms to order. I’d worked many years with this client, always giving him price quotes for three quantity breaks, as was my custom. This time he was in a rush for them and was so busy that he didn’t have time to talk. He asked me to go by what he ordered last time and to order the best quantity pricing. He specifically said he was giving me permission ahead of time, and I didn’t need to run it by him for approval. He was giving his approval now while talking to me. Having that experience made it easier to understand what Curry Blake was saying. He said, “Each time we see a sick person, we don’t need to ask permission to pray. Jesus already gave pre-permission when He said believers shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.”
A test of the Pre-Permission Lesson came during my new position as Lead Tech. The ear hook microphone used by the Teaching Director was intermittently tuning in and out, and I thought we should buy a new one to have as a backup. Thinking the clip-on lapel mic would be more convenient for guest speakers, I emailed the Teaching Director a link to the one I had in mind. She replied back and said she prefers the ear style but trusts me and to go ahead and order what I think is best. Even though I thought the clip-on mic would be best, wanting to please the Director, I ordered the ear mic she preferred, which turned out to be a mistake. After using the ear mic a few times, the Director came to me and said that the ladies hugging her before her speech moved the microphone out of place. Thinking it may have been the problem with the old mic, she wanted to change to the lapel-style mic. I couldn’t help thinking if I’d done as I was told and ordered the mic I thought was best the first time, we would already have it. Which led me to believe I needed to start trusting myself when others say they trust me.
The thought of Jesus trusting me with His name was, and still is, very humbling. But a greater understanding of authority increased my faith to begin exercising the authority I’d been given when praying in His name. My leadership role at Bible study would soon become even more significant in my life as my journey to great faith continued.
To be continued . . . see Uncommon-Path
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