Trusting God's Authority

God, help me to give You charge over every area of my life.

Matthew 8:9 “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘
Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

In Matthew 8:5-13 we read that a Roman centurion (soldier commanding 80 - 200 men) asked Jesus to heal his paralyzed servant. Jesus said He would come and heal the servant, but the centurion then showed his understanding about spoken authority over those serving under one in command. He recognizes Jesus’ authority over all men and the powers of nature. The centurion declares his humility and faith when he says he is not worthy of having Jesus in his home, and that if Jesus will simply speak the word the paralyzed servant will be healed. Jesus honored the centurion’s humility, his faith and his request, and the servant was healed in that very moment. Jesus then challenged His followers to have faith like the centurion, who came to Him in humility and trusted His authority.

We learn from this encounter that faith in God’s true authority, and our submission to it, are essential in being a Christ-follower. How can I show my trust in God’s authority? 1) I can confess that I owe everything to God and thank Him for His love for me.  2) I can bring EVERYTHING to God and submit it to His authority: my relationships, my studies, my dreams, my successes, my questions, my concerns, and my thoughts on every matter. Nothing is too small or too large for Him. 3) I can ask God to help me let go of the things that I am struggling to submit to His authority.

Be encouraged today in knowing that God is in charge of your life and He wants you to trust Him with it all.

Is there an area of my life that I need to submit to God's authority?

Why am I holding on to this?

What steps can I take to give this to God?