Topic: Submission Is Not Weakness [Thursday December 21, 2017]
‘’And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the gentiles by his ministry’’ Acts 21:19.
One major factor that enabled Paul to achieve that measure of success in Ministry that we read about today was that he held himself accountable. He was submissive to authority. No matter how highly placed you are, there must be someone you submit to, who can help you to ensure that you are building according to a pattern. You cannot grow like a wild bush and expect the beauty of the Lord. Jesus, our perfect example, submitted Himself to John the Baptist. If Jesus did, why won’t you?
Submission to a constituted authority or an accountability partner is a secret of every successful person. It is not weakness to submit to authority. Everyone who wants to be all that God has ordained him or her to be must be ready to submit to authority. Don’t be a law unto yourself, you cannot know everything and your opinion is not always right, that is why God has surrounded you with people at different levels. No one achieves greatness alone. There are deficiencies and vacuums that God allowed in you as a person that can only be filled by another person. So you need somebody in your life that can correct you and call you to order when you are missing it. You need an adviser; you need a mentor; you need a true friend.
If there is anyone that should be arrogant and cocky, it should be Paul. Remember, he is learned, secondly, no one preached to him. He had a direct encounter with Jesus on the way to Damascus – Acts 9. But even in that situation, when he asked, “what wilt thou have me do?” in verse 6, he got no direct instruction, rather he was directed to the city “… and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” Did you see that? No man, no matter your level of anointing or relationship with God, He will never leave you as an island. Remember, iron sharpens iron.
Further Reading: Acts 13: 1-4; Prov. 11:14; Prov.15:22.
Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Micah 4-5; Evening- Revelation 12
Written by Dr. Mike Okonkwo; Is the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM); a versatile man of God with over 30 years of dedicated service unto the Lord.
