Purpose And Power Of Authority (14 page)

3. Your personal authority is authentic. When you are working at something you were born to do, people will naturally become aware of you. Interestingly, they may even be afraid of you. That often happens because, if you know what you’re doing, you intimidate people who are less sure of themselves just by walking into the same room they’re in. You have to continue faithfully pursuing your authority, regardless of any negative reactions others may have
toward you.

4. Your personal authority flourishes in the right environment. When you’re born to do something but haven’t fully entered into it, sometimes, all you need is to be in the right environment and something seems to “hit” you, and you take off. This environment is a place where you can run freely with your gifts as you follow the Creator’s principles for living and for exercising authority. As the psalmist wrote, “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free” (Psalm 119:32). This environment also may be a place where others see your gifts, confirm that you have natural ability in your domain, and help move you forward to accomplish your goals.

5. Your personal authority is characterized by humbleness. When you know what you were born to do and you understand true authority, you are humble. The word humble comes from the Latin word humus, which means “earth.” This brings us full circle to the principle that authority is natural. To be humble simply means to be yourself. Lewis was natural, or “earthy,” in winning the race. As you exercise personal authority, you will be, too.

Where are you in terms of the above five features of personal authority in your life? Until you understand your authority, you are probably doing something unauthorized. That is why I want you to truly understand the priority, value, benefits, and necessity of identifying and exercising your inherent authority.

You have an Author, or Source, who has given you life and purpose, so you need to seriously, actively, and persistently ask yourself, “What is my natural personal authority? What am I authorized to do?” To help you answer these questions, we will first explore the value and meaning of personal authority. Then, we will look at each one of the above five features of personal authority in more depth.

God Gave You Personal Authority according to Order, Purpose, and Creativity

The concept of personal authority is referred to in various ways in the Scriptures, with some variations in terms depending on the translation: “call” or “calling,” “will of God,” “appointed,” “ordained,” “gift,” “work,” “ability,” “assigned task.”

These words reveal aspects of the meaning of personal authority. For example, Jesus told a parable about a man who entrusted his money to his servants while he went away on a trip. “To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability” (Matthew 25:15). The Greek word for “ability” in this verse is dunamis, meaning “miraculous power” or “force.” This word implies that each servant had certain inherent capabilities to make something of the money entrusted to him, and that with those capabilities came a responsibility to exercise them. You, too, have capabilities and are entrusted with a personal authority to carry them out on behalf of your Creator.

Paul of Tarsus was operating in an unauthentic way when he encountered the living Jesus. We will come back to this experience in more detail in a later chapter. But at the outset of this encounter, Paul asked, “‘What shall I do, Lord?’…‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do’” (Acts 22:10). The word “assigned” is translated as “appointed” in other Bible versions. The Greek word is tasso, which means “to arrange in an orderly manner, i.e. assign or dispose (to a certain position or lot)—appoint, determine, ordain, set.” It also means “to draw up in order, arrange.” As a God of purpose, order, and creativity, the Creator has assigned or appointed each person in his rightful, authorized place to function to the fullest. He has arranged everyone in a strategic position to function smoothly with others to accomplish His purposes. Within that necessary order, He gives us extraordinary freedom to express and enjoy our individual authority.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task” (1 Corinthians 3:5). The word translated “assigned” here is the Greek word didomi, “to give.” We are each assigned or given a particular task to fulfill. If God planned intricate, interconnected functions for the physical world (such as photosynthesis) for His own purposes, what did God think about when He created you?

God Gave You—Yes, You!—Permission and Power to Act

The concept of authority is overflowing with meaning, and that is why it is necessary to view it from many angles to fully grasp it. In earlier chapters, we defined personal authority as “the inherent gifts a person or thing possesses in order to fulfill the purpose for which that person or thing was placed on this earth.” Let’s explore the concepts of authority and authorization with a particular emphasis on how you can manifest your personal authority.

The following are some definitions of authority that I have collected:

• “Power to determine/the right to control or determine your own destiny.” For our purposes, this definition refers to the power to be who you really are. You have the right to determine your own future based on your inherent authority from the Creator. The future is inside you. God has given you permission to be all you were born to be. That is the extent of your authority. You don’t have authority to make someone else like you or to try to make yourself like someone else. You have authority only to make you who you are. That’s the power within you that you need to determine, and this chapter, as well as the next several chapters, will show you how to make that determination.
  

• “Delegated power or right.” You didn’t generate this power, but God gave it to you in order to manifest what He put within you. He gave you the right to become what He wants you to be.
  

• “Power based on right, permission to act.” When God created you, He automatically gave you not only power but also permission to act out your authority; He gave you permission to be yourself.
  

• “Sanction.” This definition is related to the last one. In terms of authority, sanction means “explicit or official approval, permission, or ratification.” Sanction is related to the biblical term sanctify, which means “to set apart for a special purpose.” Therefore, God has given us sanction, or official approval, in relation to a specific position He has placed us in and from which we best function. We have been selected and set apart for a specific role.
  

Many people are afraid, for various reasons, to step out into their personal authority and fulfill the dreams that are within them. This is why I want you to be able to clearly understand this truth: The fact that you have been given authority means that you, personally, have the privilege and power to fulfill your life’s purpose in your personal domain. You have permission to exercise the strength with which you have been endued by God. You have the right to exercise your inherent power. When you truly understand authority, you become free to be yourself.

Do you believe that authority was given to you before you were born to deliver something to the planet? We have seen that everything was created to fulfill the Author’s intent. What applied to the prophet Jeremiah in this regard applies to you, as well. God told him, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart” (Jeremiah 1:5). God chose you and set you apart for a reason.

You will manifest your authority when you have the right mind-set toward it. If you want to remain outside of or to move outside of your personal authority, you will not only be frustrated or uneasy inside, but you will also miss the point of your purpose in life. Paul wrote, “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will [“according to the counsel of His will” nkjv]” (Ephesians 1:11). This means God set your destination before you were conceived, and to fulfill that destination is to be the authentic you.

Note that the above verse says God works out everything in conformity with His purposes. As His representatives, we are to do the same “working out,” under the authority He has given us. Your personal authority allows you to bring things in your life into conformity with your purposes under Him. You have the power to shape your life according to your personal authority.

Let’s now explore in greater depth the five features of your personal authority as you ask yourself some questions about your current life.

Whatever you were born to do is natural within you; you don’t have to “try” to do it. This does not mean that you won’t have to work hard while fulfilling your authority, that you won’t have to push yourself in certain ways to grow and accomplish your goals, or that you won’t run into challenges as you pursue your personal authority. But it does mean that, generally speaking, you will feel energized, refreshed, and enthusiastic about what you are doing and will have the natural abilities to accomplish it.

You will manifest your authority only if you start with what is natural and God-directed in your life. Each person has been given gifts and a domain in which to operate them. As you yield to God and to the dream He’s placed in your heart, your personal authority will emerge, and you will live with confidence and effectiveness.

Life Will Look Easier and Be Easier for You

Everything God created you to be is already on the inside of you. This is why people who have found their personal domains make life look easy.

Not only will you make life look easy by exercising your personal authority, but your life will also be easier because you will not be fighting against unnatural or unauthorized activities or environments.

Similar to the runners who strained to keep going while Carl Lewis glided along, people who are trying to function outside of their natural territories, or domains of authority, have to struggle and work extra hard because they are not meant to do what they’re doing. They may even be outwardly successful, but they’re not really at rest inside; they don’t have the natural lightness of spirit and enthusiasm that come from pursuing the true desires of one’s heart.

You Will Have a Deep Sense of Satisfaction

Have you ever wondered why Jesus frequently taught people using illustrations from nature? He based most of His teachings on the natural, everyday surroundings and operations that they were familiar with. For example, He referred to the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, to the catching of fish and the sowing of seeds. He continually used these illustrations as examples to show people how natural life would be when they were flowing in the Creator’s purposes.

In Matthew 6:25–30, He said,

Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?(Matthew 6:25–30)

It took King Solomon thirteen years to build his royal palace and to fit it with cedar, bronze, and gold. He had a huge company of workers to keep his operations in order. He accumulated gold and silver, bringing wealth to his city. He built the magnificent temple. When everything was finished, notable people of other nations, such as the Queen of Sheba, came from afar to see Solomon in his glory, with his wisdom and riches. Yet Jesus said, in effect, “This lily is here today and gone tomorrow, and its beauty is better than all the splendor of Solomon and his reign.” What makes it so easy for the lily to do its work and manifest its purpose? The lily was born to be a lily.

Many People’s Hobbies Are Actually Their Personal Authority

Trees don’t try to grow. Birds don’t try to fly. Fish don’t try to swim. These abilities are natural to them. In a similar way, whatever you were built to do, you are authorized to do; it is normal for you. You can always tell what your authority is because it is fun while you’re doing it—or, if not always “fun,” you experience a deep sense of satisfaction from it.

On this basis, I have concluded that many people’s hobbies may actually be related to their personal authority in life. They enjoy the activities they do in their spare time more than what they do on the job. This is why they can’t wait to leave their workplaces at the end of the day or the week and get to their hobbies. Their hobbies are what they really want to do. Whereas their jobs make them feel like they are pushing a large rock up a steep hill, their hobbies make them feel like they are gliding easily downhill. Their hobbies are not difficult for them to engage in; they are exciting, pleasing, and fulfilling to do. They are natural and fun. These hobbies, therefore, reveal the true authority and gifts within these individuals.

Many people on earth are frustrated, depressed, or disillusioned every day because they go to jobs they are not authorized to do. They were not born to do them, and they feel—and are—out of place. I think this is sad.

Many “unauthorized” people drain others around them. You may work with some of them. They complain about the job, they complain about the boss, and they complain about you. They may even complain about the weather, how their cars are running—everything. Why? They are miserable because they haven’t found themselves. Miserable people are self-hating people. Sometimes, they don’t like the people around them because they are reminded of themselves—their coworkers, colleagues, or family members don’t know who they are, either. In contrast, I’ve found that people who discover their natural authority and begin to become who they were born to be suddenly fall in love with everybody and everything around them. Things that used to bother them don’t bother them anymore. They are content because they have an authentic reason for living.