I'm sure you've heard of Murphy’s Law: “If anything can go wrong it will.” I just discovered this week that there are a few other laws of Murphy as well…

- “The chance of the toast falling jelly side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet.”

- “When you drop your phone while driving, it will find the gap between your seat and the center console."

- “The light at the end of the tunnel is too often the headlight of an oncoming train.”

Why are these funny? Why are these true? It's interesting that, whoever he was, Murphy sure had a bead on the insight that problems in this life are pretty much inescapable.

But why is that? Why are there troubles in this world? Why doesn't the world operate in a - what WE would consider - fair way? Where is God when it hurts? If God is real, why is there so much pain and trouble in this world??

Open your Bible to the New Testament Book of James. This morning begins our next Bible book study, and for those who have been hungry for some applicable lessons to connect with all the theology we've been studying for the past year, this is for YOU! This letter, broken down in modern Bibles into five chapters, is all about living out what you believe. And this morning, I'm just hoping to give you a 30,000 foot view of this letter, setting the table (if you will) for the meal to come in the next few months.

Authority. Who gets to say which course gets changed? And where do they get that authority?

“You’re not the boss of me” “You can’t tell me what to do.” Especially in Western culture, where we are used to having the right to do what we want to do, it’s difficult to submit to authority.

But as Christians, the whole idea of Lordship involves submitting with the correct perspective of authority:

Matthew 7:28-29 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority— quite unlike their teachers of religious law.

In other words, there is a kind of authority that is not Tyrannical, but actually beneficial for those who are being led. The kind of authority Jesus talked with was different, obviously different than the religious rulers of the day. And in the next few chapters in Matthew flesh out this idea and show Jesus’ authority over sickness, over nature, and over demons. Then in chapter 8, we get the big picture about authority:

Matthew 8:5-10,13 When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, “Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.

Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.” But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!... Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

Authority matters. The officer understood it. HE had authority over soldiers and could command them to accomplish certain tasks, and so Jesus was able to perform miracles because all things are under his leadership. He is the ultimate authority – not just in this world but in the spiritual world as well.

Reading through Scripture, there is a correct way to embrace authority in our lives…