Exercising Our God-Given Authority

According to the narrative, the service went on until past midnight. Paul was leaving Troas the next day and not knowing when he would see the brethren again, his sermon lasted until midnight. One could forgive the young man, Eutychus, who had fallen asleep in a window on the third loft. Not only was he asleep, the Scriptures tell us he had "fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead" (Acts 20:9, KJV). The narrative continues, "And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted" (vv.10-12).

It is instructive to note that in what could have been a chaotic situation, the apostle was not flustered by the dramatic turn of events. Those around him must have been watching his every step as he walked towards the body on the floor. With each stride he probably recalled the Scriptures that told of Elijah stretching himself three times upon the body of deceased son of the widow at Zarephath and the miracle that followed (1 Kings 17:21-24), because here he did almost the same thing and got the same result. Remarkably, Paul did not skip a beat but went right back to the service, broke and ate bread, and talked “till break of day.” To him, what happened was no big deal.

The apostle Peter also had one of those matter-of-fact encounters. In going up to the temple with John, he met the lame man begging for alms. After commanding the man to look on them, "Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God" (Acts 3:6-8). What stands out with incidents like these is that the men of God took control of the respective situations, and were so in tune with God that it was as if their actions were par for the course. In other words, there was nothing to it. It was just another incident they had to deal with amidst the hustle and bustle of their day. What made them so confident and so successful? They had their God-given authority and they exercised it, fully expecting God to honor His word.

What about your authority? Are you taking charge of situations you should be in control of? If you are at a place where there is confusion and brokenness, whether at work, home, school or wherever you might be, by the Spirit of God you can make a difference. You have been deputized by Christ to act on His behalf. Isn't it about time you started exercising that authority?