Sunday, April 13, 2014

God Gives Us the Authority


Why Bend in the Wind?
By Sister Sharon Crowe (11/16/2013) 

Anyone who knows anything about me at all knows that I enjoy watching Asian dramas, especially Korean and Japanese dramas, in my spare time, or when I just want to relax.  Yes, I must read subtitles, but it doesn’t spoil my enjoyment at all.  These dramas have a feel of innocence that American dramas do not have any more.  Whether they represent their country’s true culture or not, is a question for another day.

One drama in particular, Ad Genius:  Lee Tae Baek, is a drama based on a true story about a poor, hardworking young man who had struggled to get into the advertising business.  He had met with failure after failure in attempting to obtain a lucrative advertising contract.  In one scene against the Vice President of a large, well-established advertising firm, he asks the protagonist of the drama, “Aren’t you the person who is better off than me?  You are an Elite!  Then why are you so bent on trying to step all over me?”  The protagonist responded in a cold, arrogant, matter-of-fact voice, “It is not that I stepped all over you, but that you allowed yourself to be stepped on”.

I sat back a little further in my chair and thought, “Wow!!”  How often do we fall prey to being a living doormat for other people to step on us?  I can hear some of you shouting out loudly, “NEVER!!” (in large caps).  However, I believe that at one point or another, we have all had to bend in the wind to someone else’s will.  We have all been in a position of submission; whether it was on our jobs, in school, church committees, in our homes, to our parents, teachers, friends, bullies, etc.  I believe we all have been there.

Even though it was just a drama, I thought these men needed God in their lives.  I also realized that God is always near, because as I was watching the drama, the word ‘authority” came to mind from the Holy Spirit.  I wondered how many people might not know that God has given us the authority to do many things.   Matthew 16:19 reads, “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven:  and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven:  and whatsoever though shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  (KJV)

Of course, there are real men, women, and children, being subjected to another’s will or are just outright being stepped on, because they haven’t claimed their position of authority.  It is not a secret weapon, but another of God’s many gifts to us; another key to the kingdom of heaven. 

I just want to remind someone who may be facing a major battle, (whatever it may be) or climbing what looks like an incredibly tall mountain; that God loves you and has given you the authority to stand strong against any challenge or adversity that is in your life.  Sometimes it is easier said than done, but believe that through Christ, all things are possible.  Romans 8:28 reads, And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.”  (ASV)

In the drama mentioned above, it had a happy ending as the young man never gave up, becoming quite a successful adman.  It happens in real life all the time.  We will examine some real life stories of people I have met, who told me of their victory in another issue.   So stay strong; don’t allow the winds of life to knock you down, because God has given you the courage and authority to overcome it on earth, as it is in heaven.