I do not react well to authority; I never really have. I do not have any difficulty following instructions when I do not yet understand the requirements necessary to fulfill a task, but once I understand how to accomplish what has been set before me, the task at hand, I do not care to have someone tell me that it needs to be done, I am already aware of that fact.
One would think that this resistance to authority would be detrimental to any advancements in the employment field, but just the opposite is true, many employers appreciate that motivational streak, it shows initiative and drive, while others are merely looking to hire someone to fill a role. For those most generally that do not react well to authority, repetition means nothing more than a slow death, once the required task is learned, there is no need to re-learn it, and so the challenge is gone. This to is an attribute that the Lord has seen blessed to give me, and all those that are blessed in such a way understand full well these words. Without a challenge, life has very little meaning for some.
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2) And the second verse, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” (Romans 13:1) Such is the way of the Lord, the free will within His boundary settings no one who has been born-again has any difficulty with, but when mankind imposes their authority upon us, or should I say attempts to, there is usually very little if any desire to glorify or honor the Lord in that authority. “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Prov. 16:18)
And the world is filled with pride, so therefore, being conformed to the world means one must also seek for pride, self-esteem with no joy to the One who made us.
No man who reacts as I always have initially, or continuously, reacts well or in an honoring way to the authority of the Lord God, it has very little to do with the lack of desire to submit to His will, for we know that in all things He is just, (Psalm 145:17) And it is not in a rebellious nature that we intentionally do so, that my friends, would be foolish in the extreme. It is the expression of our free will, that gift beyond compare that He has blessed all men with. The balance of pride and submission must be sought for, and it must be done while still retaining and understanding just what free will means.
God alone is omnipotent, He alone is free from all external influences, He answers to no one for His actions. “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.” (Isaiah 45:5) We are not as free as we would like to think, yet within certain limitations, certain boundaries, we may do as we please.
The mountain men of old, those who never saw another human being for many days, sometimes years, were not perhaps one hundred percent free, but they were close. The needs of the body were their only master, they answered to no man. Any authority that is placed over us, because of our free will, has only as much power as we allow it to have, a man in prison understands this full well. Those who protest, protest against authority, those in authority understand full well the power they wield, yet it is only presumed and always temporary, for no man has ever had power over death, save for Jesus our Lord.
To say that you are submitting to the will and Word of God is no lite statement, to repeat Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” This is not to be under subjection, but to willingly submit, for the Lord does not, nor do I ever believe that He has, ever removed free will completely from any man. Free will does not mean resistance to authority for the sake of pride, it is the ability to choose who we will obey, that is submission, and there is only One worthy of my submission. “But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” (Dan. 3:18)
