God Delegates

Some unlikely people have remarkable insight. I’m thinking specifically of the Roman army officer who begged Jesus to heal his servant. “I am not worthy that You should come under my roof,” the centurion told Jesus, “but only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me, and I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”—And the centurion got what he asked for: his servant was healed immediately, without Jesus having to go and see to it personally.

Jesus was amazed at the centurion’s great faith, and I’m amazed at his understanding. He realized something that few others do: God delegates.

The centurion got his orders from his superior officer; Jesus got His instructions from His heavenly Father. The centurion had subordinates to carry out his orders; Jesus had (and still has) others in the spiritual realm to carry out His.

If God is infinitely wise and all knowing, all powerful, and ever present, why doesn’t He just do everything Himself? Wouldn’t that be quicker and simpler and get better results? Probably, but that would go against God’s nature and His plan. God is neither a loner nor an autocrat. He made His creation diverse and interactive, some of it physical and some of it spiritual. He also established laws of physics and a natural order to regulate the physical realm, and He delegated authority and set up a chain of command in the spiritual realm. Then He put us in the middle.

Science has unlocked many of the secrets of the physical world, but exactly how things work in the spiritual realm remains one of life’s great mysteries. God has given us clues in the Bible, though, and they make a fascinating study.

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Psalm 105:5 NIV – Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced.

Genesis 1:26 KJV – And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Genesis 16:13 KJV – And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?