Be honest. When you hear the word “submit,” do the hairs on the back of your neck bristle? For most of us submission is not a natural posture. It smacks of failure, defeat, and weakness. Submission could be characterized as a response to outward duress. You know—the playground antics of someone forcing another to say “uncle.” I remember my arm pressed up against my back and the not–so–kind verbal demand, “Say uncle.” Stubborn pride sustained me until my arm felt ready to pop off and then a reluctant, “Uncle, uncle!” Of course after being released it was quickly followed by the words, “I didn’t mean it.”
As I mature, slowly and painfully, I have begun to recognize submission is not always a sign of defeat but in fact, quite the contrary. One such profound submission is expressed in the words of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Weakened and distraught, Jesus confronts His ultimate sacrifice and the accompanying consequences. But out from the weight of the moment Jesus prays these incredibly benevolent words, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
Submission always seems to run head–on with pride and is not typically a voluntary response. Submission can be coupled unattractively with feelings of distress and failure and thus we choose only to relent when no other possible course of action is at hand. In fact, we will even disguise submission as an act of humility simply to save face. But if the truth were known we would have much rather had our own way.
Jesus had plenty of reason to resist this act of submission. What lay ahead was known to him—imminent physical torment, emotional anguish, and a monumental spiritual battle. No one had ever before or would be again called to such radical submission. Yet what lay beyond the ultimate sacrifice was an even more compelling prize.
Submission, most often characterized in our society as weakness, is not always so in the purposes of God. Jesus’ submission was sacrificial, but by no means an act of defeat. God’s purpose for this submission was the catalyst for His power, promise, and provision to be revealed. Often the revelation of God’s richest and most powerful displays of love are found in acts of submission.
Submission is not something we naturally rush to. But in light of how God chooses to work—frequently in complete contradiction to the assumptions of the world—if we were to choose not to submit to His will for our lives what blessing, power, or miracle, might we forfeit?
Just a thought…
Lord, thank you for displaying your glory through your act of submission.
May I have the courage and the wisdom to do likewise.
