SUBMIT
“And the angel of the LORD said
unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hand.” Genesis 16:9
God
gave this instruction to Hagar as she fled the face of Sarai, “Go back and submit
yourself to your master’s wife.” As I
looked at the definition of submit used here in Genesis I was astounded. It literally means to bow down, to humble
ones self or to afflict, become low, downcast, stoop. It includes the possibility of being mishandled,
humiliated or oppressed. God is actually
telling Hagar to go back to her God-given role of servant and be occupied or
busied with the action of submitting to Sarai.
And, she did.
Sometimes
in life we come across people who are hard to obey. Due to their difficult personalities,
stringent and seemingly irrational demands, we bristle at being under their
authority. I have known of employers and
parents whose treatment of those under them bordered on or actually were
abusive. Yet, the call to obey and
submit was still the order of the day.
It
is hard for us to comprehend that God would require us submit in situations
that place us under such irrational hardship.
We think our personal rights supersede the command to obey or
submit. We are taught to speak up and to
demand change. But that is not the way
of God.
When
the demands of Pharaoh put the Hebrews slaves under great pressure, they
obeyed. It was hard. They complained to Moses, but they
obeyed. When Abraham told Sarah to lie
about their marital status and go into the house of Abimilech, she was probably
fearful, yet she obeyed. When God called
Isaiah to preach and then told him no one would listen, he still went forward
to preach, as did Jeremiah. And when the
Son of God knew the cross was his final act of submission – he endured the
suffering for us all.
Obedience
and submission are not assurances of a peaceful and easy life. However, they are a sign of trust and belief
in God’s ability to take a bad situation and turn it for His glory. Hagar’s life did not get any better because
she obeyed God. As a matter of fact she
was later ousted from the family after several years of obedience to God’s
command, but God remained at her side and gave her promise for her son.
In
the midst of living with difficult and irregular people, remember that God is
not irregular. He knows what you
face. He asks that you but trust Him to
work things through. Submit to those in
authority…as unto Him.
SUBMIT
“Obey them that have the rule over you, and
submit yourselves…” Hebrews 13:17
Now,
lest we think that only servants like Hagar, children, and employees should submit
in difficult situations, we come to this verse in Hebrews. The definition is straightforwardly telling
us to not resist. All of us are to give
way, or yield, to the authority and admonition of those over us.
We
might be tempted to ask, “Why?” But I
think we would hear God say, just as our parents told us years ago, “Because I
said so.” God is not saying submit if
you agree. He is not saying submit if
the person asks you nicely or if you can figure out why they are asking. He is also not saying submit with any real
promise attached. Obedience is not up for debate.
However,
there is a hidden and mysterious blessing for those who have learned to submit
without getting ruffled and balking. A peace
of heart is theirs as they simply yield to the instruction. And, I have seen
the blessing of God come forth as a person places themselves solidly upon this
truth.
Understanding
that God is the one who sets up thrones and establishes authority is paramount. He is also the one who takes them down. As employees and workers, we are not the ones
with power. In the home, God’s order is
resolute and best functioning. If we try
to take things into our own hands, we create more problems and we step outside
God’s place of blessing and protection.
Why
do we struggle with submission to authority?
Because we are sinful, willful creatures that want to have our own
way. We do not like to be told anything
by anyone. But with an attitude like
that we are actually setting ourselves up for more hurt and
disappointment. Better to simply do as
we are told and allow the one in authority to carry the burden of
responsibility for their decisions.
Do
you balk at authority? Are you a
contentious employee?
SUBMIT
“Wives,
submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.” Ephesians 5:22
Ah, the one verse on
submission that is so often quoted!
Wives – SUBMIT! It means to
arrange under or be subordinate. It also
has the idea of being subject by choice or agreement or being under the control
of another’s advice or admonition.
So what is a submissive wife? I think of it this way. In my wedding vows I promised to love, honour
and obey my husband. If I act lovingly,
do things that show him that I respect his position as leader of the home and
provider for the family, and seek to live in a way that would be pleasing to
him in all I do, including obeying any instruction he gives, then I am a
submissive wife. If, however, I do just
the opposite – use harsh and unloving words and action, bring him disgrace or
embarrassment by my choices, and blatantly do the opposite of what would be his
instruction, then I am definitely not submissive.
CC Bure said, “A submissive wife is one who makes a choice not to
resist her husband’s will. That is not to say that she cannot disagree
with him or that she cannot express an opinion. Indeed the submissive
wife is, by definition, a strong woman and will usually therefore have her own
opinions and these may often be different to the opinions of her husband.
Can she express them? Of course she can, and indeed it might often be
wrong for her not to express them since she is, after all, supposed to be her
husband’s helper, not his slave or doormat. Expressing her opinions and
giving advice and suggestions will often be a valuable part of the help that
she gives her husband.”
The difference in a
submissive wife and the Hebrew slave is that submission is a choice to arrange
one’s life by agreement with another.
The wife enters the relationship willingly and knowingly. And the one in authority has a different
motivation. The slave’s master has only
one goal – performance that yields profit.
The authority of the Christian husband is entirely different – a oneness
that creates harmony and is a picture of Christ’s love for the church.
Submission holds no fear for
the wife who is assured that love will be reciprocated and her role, performed
with submission, is valued and appreciated.
SUBMIT
“Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto
the elder. Yea, all of you be subject
one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteh the proud, and
given grace to the humble.” I Peter 5:5
This
verse has the same definition as the wife’s call to submission. It is to arrange under, to subject or submit
one’s control to another by choice or agreement. The word, subject, has the exact same
definition. So, we understand from this
verse that younger people should be subject or submissive to older folks and
that ultimately, we should all have an attitude of submission to each other.
It
is interesting to note the two choices of attitude with which God equates our
submission. We are either humble or
proud. A humble person has no problem
with submission. They know their place
and gracefully yield to authority. A
proud person refuses to submit quietly.
They are outspoken and resistant.
Hence, God uses the same approach – He is resistant to the proud and graceful
to the humble.
A
quick study on pride reveals that pride creates wrath and wrath creates
contentions and strife. Inside true
submission there is no place for any of these qualities. It does not mean that we simply go through life
with our heads in the sand. We are not
to be blind leaders of the blind or ignorant about life. However, we are also not to be contentious
and self-willed.
A
submissive working together in community, in the home, and in the church
produces a unity of spirit and a peace that glorifies God. Submission may look like obedience, but it
also may look like thoughtful questioning and exploration of solutions. It has the facet of being helpful and
uplifting of others. Hence, God calls us
to be submissive – helpful, thoughtful, uplifting – toward others.
What
is your attitude toward submission?
SUBMIT
“Submit
yourselves therefore to God…” James
4:7
The
ultimate object of our submission should be to God. This is again the same definition - It is to
arrange under, to subject or submit one’s control to another by choice or agreement.
When
Adam fell in the garden he made the choice to not subject himself to God. He broke fellowship by his actions. Fallen man is in the same position. His fellowship is broken with God. He is not submissive to God. He is
diametrically opposed to submission.
When
we come to know Christ as our Saviour we make a choice. We are recognizing His authority in our lives
and our rebellious state. We ask for
forgiveness and bring ourselves into line by agreement with God’s
authority. Baptism is a picture of what
has happened in our lives and an open acknowledgment of our desire to walk in
newness of life – out with the old, in with the new.
Over
and over in our Christian growth we are faced with ever deepening levels of
this submission. New growth means we
learn to become faithful to church, to pray and read our Bibles with set
regularity and to tithe. Then we are
challenged with heart attitudes that need to change and we start submitting to
God’s requirements on forgiveness, obedience, service, etc. I find that the deeper one goes in the
Christian life, the more submission is challenged. We see the rebellion of our heart in more
subtle ways and are faced with the choice of surrendering these fallacies over
to God’s working.
Submitting
to God can also be seen in our life situations as we face death, job choices,
personality clashes, child rearing, and marriage problems. Over and over we are being faced with the
choice of submitting to God or doing things our own way.
Submission
is a life long choice – what choice are you making?
