Grace in Galatians (Part 188) – Some Things You Cannot Delegate (Paul’s Hidden Leadership Secret)

https://youtu.be/xFqAPigmjvE?si=B1v52mCVCcSWcFUB

Today, we continue our focus on THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, as we learn to maintain our posture of faith after God has revealed His plans for our future.

As part of this series, I am teaching a verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Galatians.

Key scriptures for this year:

2 Peter 3:18 GNT“But continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and forever.”

Luke 10:20 Mirror“It’s time for you to rediscover who you are from Heaven’s perspective.”

1 John 3:10 Mirror“There is a very visible and vast difference between living one’s life from your God identity or from a fallen man’s mindset.”

Proverbs 25:2 NKJV“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.”

Jeremiah 29:13 NIV“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Scripture we will study today:

Galatians 6:11 NIV“See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!”

Galatians 6:11 TPT“Take note that I am writing this with my own large lettering. See how big these letters are!”

Supporting scriptures:

Romans 16:22 TPT“I, Tertius, the one writing this letter for Paul, send my Christian greetings to all of you.”

1 Corinthians 16:21 AMPC“I, Paul, write you this final greeting with my own hand.”

2 Thessalonians 3:17 AMPC“I, Paul, write this final greeting with my own hand; this is the mark and sign in every letter of mine. It is the way I write.”

Galatians 4:13-15 AMPC“On the contrary, you know that it was because of a bodily ailment that I [was detained and] preached the Gospel to you the first time. And [yet] although my physical condition was [such] a trial to you, you did not regard it with contempt, or scorn and loathe and reject me; but you received me as an angel of God, [even] as Christ Jesus Himself! For I bear you witness that you would have torn out your own eyes and have given them to me [to replace mine], if that were possible.”

2 Corinthians 12:9 TPT“But he answered me, ‘My grace is always more than enough for you, and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.’ So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I am weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me.”

Joshua 24:15 AMPC“And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Habakkuk 2:2 AMPC“Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may [be able to] read [it easily and quickly] as he hastens by.”

Hebrews 12:12 TPT“So be made strong even in your weakness by lifting up your tired hands in prayer and worship.”

Setting the Stage:

We just spent a full week walking through Galatians 6:10. We unpacked Joseph in every room God put him in. We unpacked David at the harp, in the cave, and in the songbook. We defined what biblical good actually looks like. And on Friday, we closed out the week with balancing your now with your next. Today, we cross over into Galatians 6:11.

On the surface, verse 11 looks like a footnote. “See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!” Most believers read that and skip right past it like Paul is just commenting on his handwriting. They miss it. One of the most personal moments in any letter Paul ever wrote is hidden inside this one verse, and if you slow down long enough to see what is actually happening, you will get a teaching that will change the way you steward the rest of your life.

Here is what is going on. Paul did not normally write his own letters. He dictated. He had a scribe sitting next to him, pen in hand, putting his words on paper. We even know one of the scribes by name. Romans 16:22 TPT says, “I, Tertius, the one writing this letter for Paul, send my Christian greetings to all of you.” Tertius wrote Romans. Somebody else wrote Galatians. And at the end of most of his letters, Paul would reach over, take the pen from his scribe, and write a short signature line in his own hand to authenticate the letter. 1 Corinthians 16:21 says, “I, Paul, write you this final greeting with my own hand.” 2 Thessalonians 3:17 Asays it is “the mark and sign in every letter of mine.” Short. Brief. Like a signature at the end of an email.

But what Paul does at the end of Galatians is different. He does not write a one-line signature. He picks up the pen and writes the entire closing himself. Verses 11 through 18. And he calls attention to how big his letters are. Two reasons. Number one, his eyes were failing him. Back in Galatians 4:15, Paul reminded these same believers that “you would have torn out your own eyes and have given them to me [to replace mine], if that were possible.” Many Bible teachers have pointed to the fact that it seems as though Paul had challenges with his vision in his latter years. So when he picks up the pen, his eyes are bad, and the letters come out clumsy and big because that is the only way he can see what he is writing. There were no readers back then. Number two, the big letters were also for EMPHASIS. Like writing in ALL CAPS. Like underlining a sentence three times. Paul wanted them to feel the weight of what he was about to say.

Here is the part most believers miss. The fact that the Apostle Paul picked up his pen to write the rest of this letter teaches us something. There are some things in your life you can delegate. The Apostle Paul ran a regional ministry with global impact. He had teams. He had assistants. He had scribes who could put his thoughts on paper better than he could. He delegated almost everything that COULD be delegated. But there were some things he refused to outsource. And one of those things was this closing. So from the Apostle Paul, I get this leadership lesson: “delegate the routine, but sign the sacred.” Today, I want to walk you through four reasons there are some assignments in your life that only YOUR hand can sign. Let’s go!

So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.

1. Delegate The Routine, But Sign The Sacred Yourself.

Picture the scene. Paul is dictating. The scribe is at the table. Word by word, the book of Galatians (a letter) is hitting the page and taking form. Then Paul gets to the end. He has just spent six chapters defending grace against the legalists who were trying to drag the Galatian church back under The Law. He is about to seal the deal on the most fiery letter of his entire ministry. And he reaches over and says, “Give me the pen.” I can almost see the scribe look up, surprised. “Paul, you don’t usually do this.” But Paul takes the pen anyway. His eyes are squinting. His hand is probably shaking (my imagination). The letters come out clumsy and big. And he keeps writing. Because there are some moments in your life when nobody else can hold the pen. There are some sentences that have to be penned from your own hand. Paul knew the difference between what could be delegated and what could not. This distinction is one of the biggest leadership lessons in the entire New Testament.

How this applies to you:

— Most of life CAN be delegated. Literally just a few minutes ago, while I was making a cup of coffee before coming to my office, I saw on Instagram a post that said, “Here are the three things a CEO must do. Everything else can be delegated.” What those things were is not important. The point is that leaders must learn the power of delegation. However, the greatest leaders also know what NOT to delegate.

— There are sacred things in your life that are YOURS to write, not somebody else’s.

— I served 25 years in the Army, and one of the first things the Army teaches you is to delegate. But the leaders who go furthest are the ones who delegate well AND know what they cannot delegate. The ones who delegate everything become irrelevant. The ones who delegate nothing burn out. The ones who learn the difference become exceptional leaders who can multiply their impact through their teams.

— Some of you have been outsourcing the very things God assigned to YOUR hand. You take the kids to children’s church and hope they get everything they need there, when God assigned YOU to be their primary spiritual covering. You let the pastor lead your home spiritually from the pulpit on Sunday, rather than from your kitchen table on Monday. You let somebody else share the story of what God did in YOUR life, when God gave you that testimony to steward yourself.

— Here is a question that will save your life: “Is this routine or is this sacred?” Routine things multiply your impact when you delegate them. Sacred things lose their power the moment you hand them off. The wisdom of a leader is not just in what he gives away. It is in what he refuses to give away.

— Your spiritual life is sacred. Your marriage is sacred. The discipleship of your children is sacred. Your personal time in the Word is sacred. Your testimony is sacred. These are not items on a to-do list you outsource to a professional. These are the documents of your life, and only YOUR signature makes them count.

— In THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, discover that there is a pen God placed in YOUR hand that He has not placed in anyone else’s hand in this generation. You are the only one He gave it to. Pick it up.

— I will close by making this important distinction: in a church, there are admin functions, and there are ministry functions. Admin functions can be delegated, but when it comes to ministry functions, some things you can’t delegate to people who don’t have an anointing to do it. If the anointing is not there, then the delegation is not authorized, because you would literally be requiring somebody to operate with a gift that is not on them. Good church leaders know the difference. 

2. There Are Some Assignments God Only Trusts To Your Hand.

Paul was the Apostle of grace. There were dozens of preachers in the early church. There were scribes. There were missionaries. There were pastors. But there was only one Paul. And there were certain assignments God placed on Paul’s hand that He did not place on anyone else’s. The book of Galatians is one of them. Romans is another. Ephesians is another. The pastoral epistles. Nobody else could write what Paul wrote, because nobody else carried what Paul carried. And the same principle applies to you. There are some assignments in your life that no preacher can preach for you, no friend can pray for you, no spouse can carry for you. They are YOURS. Your walk with God is yours. Your testimony is yours. Your obedience is yours. Your time in the secret place is yours. The Christian life cannot be lived by vicariously through anyone else. 

How this applies to you:

— Philippians 2:12 TPT says to “continue your journey of salvation with reverence and awe.” Other translations say, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Some things are part of YOUR journey. Not your pastor’s. Not your spouse’s. Not your parent’s. Salvation is personal, and the walk that follows it is just as personal.

— Joshua 24:15 AMPC has Joshua standing in front of all Israel saying, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua did not poll the room. He did not wait to see what everybody else was going to do. He picked up the pen and signed for his household. That is leadership. That is fatherhood. That is what God is asking of you in this season.

— Some of you have been waiting on somebody else to lead your home in the things of God. Stop waiting. If you are the husband and the father, the pen is in your hand. If you are the wife and the mother, the pen is in your hand for the assignments God specifically gave to you. God did not hand the pen to your neighbor. He handed it to you. 

— You are writing the book of your life, so make sure you take ownership for what you put down. 

— Galatians 6:5 says each one of us will bear his own load. There is a load God placed on you that He did not place on anyone else. The faithful believer learns to stop comparing loads and starts carrying the one that is right in front of him.

— I have a Father’s blessing only I can speak over my children. I have a covering only I can carry for Isabella. I have a Today’s Word ministry that only Rick Pina can write. God has assignments on you that He did not put on anyone else. Stop wishing for somebody else’s pen. Pick up the one in YOUR hand.

— In THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, discover that the pen God placed in your hand is not your burden. It is your honor. He trusted YOU with it. Now write.

— I will close this point with this: there are some things you cannot outsource because the assignment is tied to the anointing, and the anointing is tied to YOU. God did not just give you the assignment. He put the grace on YOU to carry it. When you try to hand it off, the assignment goes with the grace, and the grace stays with you. So the assignment never gets done. Stop making this mistake because it causes nothing but frustration for you and the other party. 

3. What You Emphasize Is What Your Generation Will Carry.

Paul wrote in LARGE letters because he wanted the Galatians to GET IT. Big letters. Underlined. Highlighted. Loud. He wanted the message to land. And there is a principle hiding in that. What you choose to emphasize is what your people will remember. 

How this applies to you:

— Habakkuk 2:2 AMPC says, “Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may [be able to] read [it easily and quickly] as he hastens by.” God Himself believes in big letters. He told Habakkuk to engrave the vision so plainly that a person running by could read it. What you want remembered, write big.

— Some of you have been writing the wrong things in big letters. You write your problems big and you write your promises small. You write your fears big and you write your faith small. You write the bad report big and you write the Word of God small. Flip the script. Write God’s promises in capital letters and let your problems live in lowercase.

— I want you to picture a parent who shouts about every spilled cup but only whispers “I love you” once a week. The kids will remember what was loud. They will not remember the whisper. As parents, leaders, and spouses, what we EMPHASIZE is what gets carried.

— Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says God’s words should be on your heart and you should teach them diligently to your children, talking about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you rise up. That is God’s version of writing in big letters. Repeat it. Underline it. Live it out loud.

— What is in big letters in your home? What gets repeated? What gets emphasized? What gets celebrated? Whatever that is, that is what your family will absorb as truth. Make sure the big-letter words in your home are the ones God wants underlined.

— I have learned that you do not have to say everything. You have to say the IMPORTANT things, and you have to say them with weight. Most of life is whispered. The truths that change a generation have to be shouted.

— I will close this point with this: your children will not remember everything you said, but they will remember what you EMPHASIZED. Your team will not remember every meeting, but they will remember what you kept coming back to. Your spouse will not remember every conversation, but they will remember what you made BIG. So be intentional about what you write in capital letters, because that is the only thing that survives the noise of life. What you EMPHASIZE today is what they will INHERIT tomorrow.

4. Your Hand Is Enough, Even When It Is Hurting.

Now we land where this verse hits hardest. Paul’s eyes were going. His hand was probably trembling. The letters came out big and clumsy because his vision could barely keep up with the pen. And he wrote anyway. He did not wait until his eyes healed. He did not wait until he felt better. He did not say, “I will pick up the pen when I am stronger.” He picked up the pen with the eyes he had and the hand he had on the day he had them. And what he wrote with those weak eyes and that shaking hand has been ministering to the church of Jesus Christ for two thousand years. Most believers wait until they are whole before they will obey. Paul did not have that luxury. And neither do you. God uses imperfect hands for perfect assignments. 

How this applies to you:

— 2 Corinthians 12:9 TPT says God’s grace is “always more than enough for you, and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.” Your weakness is not the obstacle to the assignment. Your weakness is the canvas the assignment gets painted on.

— Some of you have been waiting for the wound to close before you will step into the calling. Paul wrote the closing of Galatians with eyes that were failing him. You can write what He gave you to write today, even if your circumstances are not what you wish they were. Learn that you have the grace to do it anyway. 

— Hebrews 12:12 TPT says, “so be made strong even in your weakness by lifting up your tired hands in prayer and worship.” Lift the tired hand. Pick up the trembling pen. Strength is on the other side of obedience, not in front of it.

— I have preached when I was tired. I have written when I did not feel like it. I have ministered when my body wanted to lie down. And every single time, the grace of God showed up to finish what He started in me. Not because I was strong, but because I was obedient.

— Some of you have a Galatians 6:11 assignment in your life right now. A book to write. A child to raise. A business to build. A ministry to lead. A marriage to heal. And you have been waiting until you feel ready. You will never feel ready. Pick up the pen. Write with the eyes you have. The grace will catch up to your obedience.

— Your hand is enough. Your weakness is enough. Your obedience is the only thing that needs to show up. Once you obey, the grace of God will kick in and take over!

— I will close this point with this: God is not waiting for you to be perfect. He is waiting for you to be present. He is not waiting for the pain to leave. He is waiting for you to pick up the pen anyway. The hand that wrote Galatians was a hand that was hurting, and yet it changed the world. Your hand is no different. Stop disqualifying yourself because of what you feel, and start obeying based on what He said. The grace meets you AT the pen, not before it.

Declaration of Faith:

Father, I thank You that there are some assignments You placed on my hand that You did not place on anyone else, and I refuse to outsource what You handed me to sign!

I delegate the routine, but I sign the sacred myself, because I know the difference between what others can carry for me and what only I can carry!

I pick up the pen You placed in my hand, and I write what You told me to write, even when my hand is not as steady as I want it to be!

I write the most important things in big letters, because what I emphasize is what my family and my generation will carry!

I refuse to write my problems big and my promises small, and I let Your Word live in capital letters in my home!

My weakness is not a disqualification, it is a canvas, and Your power is made perfect right where I feel the most fragile!

I do not wait until I feel ready to obey, because the grace catches up to my obedience the moment I pick up the pen!

There are some prayers nobody else can pray for me, some declarations nobody else can make for me, and some words nobody else can write for me, and I take responsibility for the assignment You placed on my hand!

I am the only one You gave this pen to in this generation, and I treat that as an honor, not a burden!

I am living in THE YEAR OF DISCOVERY, I am Living THE GRACE LIFE, and GREATER IS COMING FOR ME!

I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!

This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!