They Seem so Dangerous

Most of my life I’ve been rather averse to joining in with team sports, probably because my hand and eye coordination was never very good. Since I didn’t play any games myself, watching sports was equally off my agenda. But in the last years, mostly due to the presence of two rather sporty sons-in-law, I have had to cultivate at least a passing interest in, and minimal knowledge of, things like the cricket test scores or the latest football result.

Recently, one of my sons-in-law has been staying at our house, so I’ve occasionally ended up watching a bit of a rugby match in the Six Nations Championship. I’ve now discovered that this rather physical game is exciting to watch and that the average rugby player has a very impressive physic. Not only are they large, tall and muscly but they are all obviously extremely determined as they power up the pitch to get the ball over the line for a ‘try’. They frankly look unstoppable with their massive power and enormous strength.

However, something happened during the play (I’m not sure what it was, being sadly ignorant of the rules of the game) and the referee stepped in, to stop the action. It was clear to see that he was very small and feeble by comparison to the huge players, but he stopped the game because he had something other than brawn. He had a delegated authority, as an accepted accredited referee, so that by exerting this authority, his word was law to the players. In response to his intervention the player in question, despite being so much stronger and obviously more powerful physically, obediently walked off the pitch.

As I watched this scenario, I began to think that, as believers in Jesus, we often feel weak and insignificant in the face of seemingly overwhelming bad situations around us. The scripture tells us that Jesus has all authority (Matthew 28:18) and today’s verse from Dr Luke’s gospel tells us that He has delegated this authority to us, if we are His followers. Perhaps we should, like the referee, be trusting more in that authority to stop unlawful actions, because we’re empowered to challenge the way the enemy is working when he, or his forces, are breaking God’s divine rules.

Demonic forces may seem fierce and dangerous like scorpions and snakes, far too scary to tackle when we feel so small by comparison. But we need to remember that we have Jesus’ authority and His laws will eternally stand (1 Corinthians 15:24). So, just like the referee in the rugby match, however big and strong the enemy forces seem, they must submit to that authority delegated by Jesus to those who follow Him.

Prayer: Jesus, You’ve won the victory over the enemy and amazingly You’ve delegated to us Your authority to continue Your work of upholding Your laws and resisting the foul play of the enemy. Lord, please forgive us when, in the face of powers that seem so huge or potentially dangerous, we allow our sense of smallness to stop us doing what You’ve called us to do, to facilitate Your rule and reign on earth. Amen.