Need for Human Authorities- Yay or Nay?
Romans 13:1 says, “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God” (NLT). Ultimately, every authority is from God but He chooses to delegate that authority through different channels such as:
The Word of God (The Bible)
The Holy Spirit and
Human Authorities.
Today, we are going to be focusing on Human Authorities.
A human authority is someone we have decided to be in full submission to. Naturally, every human wants to be their own boss but it takes humility and a willingness to submit to someone else and be under their authority. Someone once described submission as strength put under control. Submission is not weakness but a sign of strength and courage.
There are many benefits and blessings associated with being under a human authority:
Expanded Vision
Isaac Newton once said, “If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”. Human authorities show us life road maps, are totally open books - showing us steps to take, potholes to avoid and constantly point us in the right direction. They constantly motivate us to strive towards our goal and not give up. Sometimes, we view the vision God has given us from a very small lens but they step in to expand our viewpoint. They don't allow us to remain small in our minds but to dream and think big. Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist was a mentor to Mary, the mother of Jesus. In other to ensure Mary had no doubt that the Holy Spirit will overshadow her in order to give birth to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, which seemed so impossible; she was told of Elizabeth, an old barren lady, who was now in her sixth month of pregnancy. Human authorities will make it difficult for you to remain stagnant but will instead encourage you to press forward, even as they press forward themselves.
“What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month”- Luke 1:36 NLT
2. Good Success
There is a popular saying that ‘behind every successful man is a woman’ but I believe that behind every successful person (man/woman) is a human authority.
Let’s look at the life of King Uzziah.
2 Chronicles 26:5 says, “Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the LORD, God gave him success.”
Zechariah was the human spiritual authority over King Uzziah. Zechariah knew the importance of fearing God and as a result, led King Uzziah to do so and as long as he did so, God gave the king success. Unfortunately, when he allowed pride to set in, he began to experience a downfall. The King stopped seeking after God and decided to personally burn incense on the incense altar in the temple. When he was confronted by Azzariah, the High Priest, and the other priests - because the burning of incense was something God designated to the priesthood alone - the king became furious.
“Uzziah, who was holding an incense burner, became furious. But as he was standing there raging at the priests before the incense altar in the Lord’s Temple, leprosy[a] suddenly broke out on his forehead….So King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in isolation in a separate house, for he was excluded from the Temple of the Lord. His son Jotham was put in charge of the royal palace, and he governed the people of the land.” (2 Chronicles 26: 19, 21 NLT)
It is dangerous to think there is no more need for human authorities in our lives. This line of thinking of behaviour will open the door to error and eventually destruction.
Joshua was another bible character who enjoyed success as a result of being under authority.
“As the Lord had commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua. And Joshua did as he was told, carefully obeying all the commands that the Lord had given to Moses. SO Joshua conquered the entire region- the hill country, the entire Negev, the whole area around the town of Goshen, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley, the mountains of Israel, and the Galilean foothills. The Israelite territory now EXTENDED all the way from Mount Halak, which leads up to Seir in the south, as far north as Baal-gad at the foot of mount Hermon in the valley of Lebanon. Joshua killed all the kings of those territories” (Joshua 11:15-17 NLT)
3. Spiritual Covering
In my past blog post, I made reference to an incidence where a car was stuck and could not move because of slippery ice underneath the tires and it took a bigger car to pull it out. Sometimes we are faced with challenges and sometimes, God uses our human spiritual authority to deliver us from such challenges. Remember, it is not weakness to be under authority but instead a sign of strength and courage. No man is an island by himself and sometimes, we need to ask for help from those human authorities God has placed in our lives, so we don’t suffer in silence. We were not created to live on earth alone, but in the company of others. The Shunamite woman was under the authority of Elisha and when she faced the challenge of the death of her son, she brought him to Elisha and eventually, the child was raised back to life (2 Kings 4).
So if you ask me, is there a need for human authorities? My answer is YAY!!!
It is important to identify the right human spiritual authority that God has handpicked for you but in order to be sure, you need the help of the Holy Spirit, which you have access to when you have fully surrendered your heart unto Jesus Christ. If you will like to make that decision today, please say this prayer:
“Lord Jesus Christ, I believe you are the Son of God and I believe You died for me on the cross of Calvary. I know I am a sinner and today, I come to You to forgive me of all my sins and to make me a brand new creation. I accept You as my personal Lord and Saviour. Thank you Lord for forgiving me and making me born again, in Jesus name, Amen”.
Congratulations!!!! You are now born-again! (It simply means a new born baby in Christ and there is celebration in heaven right now because of YOU!)
If you made this decision, I will love to hear from you! Please leave a comment on this post or reach out to me at https://www.cccghq.org/contact/
By: Pastor Ibukun Adewusi