Questioning Authority

by Monica Cannady on November 29, 2012

I had an unnerving situation one morning before taking the kids to school. I went back in the house with one child while the other stayed outside near the car. When we walked back to the car, she wasn’t there. My heart nearly stopped. Thankfully, she jumped out from behind a trash receptacle. I scolded her a little about what she had done and we began talking about “stranger danger.”

The kids know about stranger danger, but they have not had to practice it. Most of the time, where they are, I am there too. It’s important to teach kids a balance in whose authority to respect. When they leave our care we want them to respect the authority of a helpful adult, such as a teacher. We had a discussion about how to be able to tell if someone is a helping authority or not. We decided we need a safe word that only we know.

This situation had me thinking about some things. Biblically, we are told to respect God’s instituted authorities (Romans 13:1, Colossians 1:16). By the example of Satan, we also know that some authorities need to be questioned. That is why we need the word planted firmly in our heart. In Matthew 4, Jesus was being tempted by the devil in the wilderness; he counteracted every one of his so called authoritative innuendos with scripture. Jesus was aware that the dark dimensions of this world have authority figures too. Those are the authority figures that we need to question.

There might be an area in our lives right now that we need to challenge the authority of what we are being told or asked to do. It could be a faith issue, health issue, or a financial issue. It could be small voices telling you that you are not going to make it or why don’t you just kill yourself. The response needs to be- by what authority are you speaking to me? In the name of Jesus, we have the power to speak to the ungodly and false authorities that appear to us. Why not use the power?

My daughter who I had scolded said we should make our safe word about God because “a lot of bad guys don’t care about God at all.” Wow-How smart she is. The bad guys will never guess our safe word.

It could be a good idea to have a safe word with God so you can know if He is actually speaking to you. You might hear God confirm it, you may hear someone say it, or you might see it printed somewhere.

Know and believe in the authority Christ has given you. Challenge any authority that is not of Him.