“What will it take to get the authority to make this decision.”
“You already have it.”
“I do not think so. I have never been authorized or empowered.”
“Really? Why do you think that?”
“Because we have never talked about it – either in the form of actions I should have taken, am taking, or plan to take.”
“You may not realize this, but you have as much authority as you think you have.”
I am still not sure if this conversation over my authority level in a role was accurate. I do believe that the senior executive I was talking to believed what he was telling me. As I have considered the premise that I was empowered from the beginning, I know that I was underestimating what I already had.
There are several obvious reasons for my blindness. It started with fear, includes uncertainty, and stayed with me because I was unwilling to act with courage. It is not unusual. I look around me and see others struggling with the similar bindings.
As I reflect on other truths that I struggle with there is an obvious one – my standing with God. For the same reasons, fear, uncertainty, and the inability to act with courage, I find it hard to see and believe where I am with God. Others talk about it, but it feels like I am on a high diving platform trying to muster the courage to jump. Even as I watch others jump, my fear and doubts dominate and control.
An author left a note telling of his perspective; “God-strengthened, we’re delivered from evil – when we run to him, he saves us.” (Psalm 37.40) I would be the last person to suggest that you should jump without thinking. The challenge for both of us is how to act with the head knowledge that God has set the stage for a restoration process even as life feels like failure.
Today I will take small steps remembering God is work is on display. If we look courageously, we will find God is moving within us.
