“By the will of God.”
I think that there are inherent dangers in being born into a country that espouses democracy and freedom, one danger being that we are not well accustomed to bending our knee—and our will—to the will of another. While we may feel that we are not in control of much of our lives, the fact is that little of our lives is controlled by those in authority over us. The vast majority of decisions that we make each day are made without thought for what others think; we are free to determine much of the course of our lives. Unless we are Christians. And that’s the rub. As Christians, we should be voluntarily submitting each and every decision to will of God Who is both our Master and Father.
Scripture often describes submitting as humbling ourselves to God. The apostle James wrote:
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (4:7-10 NKJV).
When we submit ourselves to God, when we humble ourselves, we voluntarily place ourselves into His care, but not only His care, but His authority. We regard our decisions as not worthy, but rather, allow ourselves to be guided by His will and His wisdom. We are obedient to His commands—whether they are suggestions or demands—and we acknowledge that He is in authority over us in all things.
We are not much use to submitting to any kind of authority.
If we are confronted by a rule or law with which we disagree, we are more often than not likely to ignore it or circumvent it, rather than simply to obey it because it is a law established by an authoritative body. We see our government—and often anyone in authority over us—as so corrupt that we feel we have no need to obey the rules and laws set into place. I’ve even heard pastors say, “It’s better to ask forgiveness than permission,” when confronted by civil ordinances that they feel are impeding the growth of their churches.
And while there may be occasionally rules that we should disobey (because doing otherwise would place us outside of God’s will), obeying the rules over us gives us practice in submitting to higher authorities. Paul even tells us Romans to submit to the government over us: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities” (13:1 NKJV). And Peter reiterates the same idea: “Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good” (1 Peter 2:13-14 NKJV).
I believe that part of the reason for this is so that we will gain practice obeying authorities.
I am a school teacher by day, teaching in a local elementary school. Our school has rules as does my classroom. Most of my children aren’t accustomed to obeying any kind of rules and have difficulty submitting themselves to the authority over them. I have to teach them every year that the rules at school—however minor seeming—have at least as one purpose the idea of learning to submit to rules set down by those in authority over us. If my children learn to submit to class and school rules, they will be better equipped to submit to the rules of law that will have authority over them as adults.
If we, as adults, lack practice in submitting to authorities, we may have difficulty truly submitting to the Lord. And yet, Paul himself tells us that he was an apostle only by and through the will of God. If God had called Paul to become a ditch digger, rather than an apostle, I’m convinced that Paul would have embraced that occupation and done it gladly simply because it was God’s will.
Am I willing to do what the Lord wants me to do simply (and always) because it is His will? Or do I think that my talents, time, and efforts would be better served doing something else? Am I willing to submit first because He is Master and second because, by saving me, He has purchased me with His own blood? Or do I think that somehow my way will be better?
In the words of Dr. Phil: “How’s that working for you?”
Doesn’t it make sense that we would be better served to submit ourselves to a God Who is all-knowing, all-loving, and all-wise rather than to try to make our way for ourselves?
© 2012 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted for nonprofit and church groups to use this article in its entirety (including this notice). For other uses, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com.
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