Being in a Buddhist country, a Buddhist school and being surrounded by people who don’t share the same faith as me can at times feel so heavy, the weight of it is very prevalent. In fact, sometimes it can feel like I’m drowning under the spiritual strain.
There is a teaching that we had in Guatemala, power versus authority. The example they gave is a truck speeding down the road. If a police officer steps out in front of the truck the truck stops.
Why? The truck could plow right through the police officer.
It is because of the authority that the police officer carries.
The police officer was given authority (authority must be given in every circumstance) from a higher power.
In the same way we, as Christ followers, have been given authority.
Not just a little bit of authority but allllll authority.
How powerful is that??
So when I feel the heaviness in my soul, when I think of these children who don’t know Jesus, when I am so exhausted from fighting I go back to my authority.
I have the authority to say to my soul that there may be weight but I am the child of the king. That perfect love casts out all fear. That there are seasons but that joy is always coming. I get to thank the Lord that what I feel is not the truth, the truth is that he is always moving and way bigger then I am.
When my heart breaks for the children and teachers who don’t know Jesus I have the authority to demand that they know the king. I have to power to pray over them. I have the power to show Jesus to them through what I do.
And each night when I am exhausted I have the authority to rest in God. The authority to say that yes my body and mind may be weary but my hope is in something eternal, something that gives me the strength to walk and not grow weary, to not hunger or to thirst.
I have the authority and the ability to make change, to demand more, to fall apart, and to be held resting in the knowledge of the king.
There is another side to this. I have the authority on what I give to God and what I don’t. Am I going to give him the really hard things? The flesh that is screaming for life? The trust and faith that he is good?
And when I mess up I get to walk in the authority of who I am as a daughter. I get to say thank you Jesus for forgiving me, thank you that that is not the woman that you made me to be. Thank you that I am a woman of peace, kindness and boldness. Thank you for your forgiveness.
What are you choosing to walk in, authority or not? Are you giving the Lord authority over the things in your life?
“But perfect love casts out all fear.”
