Submission: Who's Will Are You Following?

Hello Friends! It's been a long time since I have posted, which I am aiming to not have happen again. Recently I have felt drawn to press forward in writing these studies to help encourage fellow Christians to press forward in the world that we live in. As you can see from the title, we'll be looking at submitting to God's will (ironically that is what I am attempting to do by writing this study!!). I think that an important step that a lot of people forget is that we are to submit in all things we do, and that there are some clear examples in the Bible of how not submitting to God's will can negatively impact our lives. However, we can just as easily follow Christ's example and live to the fullness of joy in the Lord. So with all that being said, let's look at what exactly submission looks like in the bible.

When we talk about submission, there are two different types really, forceful submission and chosen submission. The first type is not a submission that God works in, but rather similar to how a combat fighter might tap out if he gets into a situation that he cannot get out of. The opponent has forcefully imposed his will on the fighter that submits to where he can either face severe injury or allow his opponent to win the fight. The chosen submission that I alluded to earlier falls much more in line with Joshua 24:15. We have a choice to follow after what our flesh wants, but as Christians, we are called to follow after the will of God, by choice. God will not force that on you, and he will continue to draw you back to him if you choose to follow your own will. As an additional note on what submission means, Webster defines it as "to yield oneself to the authority or will of another". The greek word typically used in the bible for subission is hupotasso which means "to order under". Now that we have established what submission means, let's look at the perfect example given to us in the bible, Jesus Christ.

Jesus regularly gave us as Christians examples of submitting to the Will of God. You don't have to think much further than when Christ died for us to see a perfect example. This is confirmed to us in Phillipians 2:8 when Paul talks about Christ being obediant unto death. Let's not forget that while Christ was truly part of the Holy Trinity and knew how important his role in the fate of humanity really was, he was also 100% human. He surely had fears and doubts in that situation that something would go wrong. However, he put that to the side so he could fill his role as Savior to all of us. Now you might be thinking, "well of course it was easy for him to have faith, he's God". That is a very valid point, but let me remind you that for us that are saved, we have the Holy Ghost in us that is sent specifically to be a form of God living within us! Not only that, but the bible tells us in Romans 8:28 that "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." In other words, submitting ourselves to God's Will in our life is for OUR GOOD as well as God's glory.

With that being said, there are many other examples in the Bible where we can see people following after the will of God, but did you know there is a pretty straight forward example in the bible of someone not following the will of God? Let's consider Jonah for a minute. Jonah was given a direct commandment by God to go preach to the Ninevites. Now I would love to cut Jonah some slack here because Nineveh was historically a very creul place to go with a vicisious attitude towards people who opposed them, but we have to remember what we just talked about. God had a plan for Jonah. God was not going to leave Jonah just because the situation was intimidating or scary. In fact, Jonah put himself through more heartache by running from God than ever could be put on him by another human. With the benefit of historical reference, we know that the ninevites immediately accepted Jonah's message once he finally delivered it. The same is true for us today. There are plenty of places that we can easily just walk up to someone and start telling them about Christ with the worst reprecussion being that the person we speak to acts rude, especially in America. This is a small, small sacrifice to the turmoil that comes in our souls whenever we don't submit to the Will of God.

One last thing before I close out for today. I would hate to encourage you all to submit to God's Will and not give you any suggestions on where to start. First thing is to have an active relationship with God. Pray. Study your Bible. Worship Him. Attend Church when possible. These things are building blocks for a Christian life, but if they are neglected can keep you from being where God wants you to be. Next, once you feel like you are in the church God has led you to, seek out opportunities to serve. I will be doing another study very soon on the umbrellas of service within a church body, but as an example, if your church has an event to work with the youth, volunteer your time if nothing else. The bible tells us that we are led by God's peace, so it typically won't take a lot of effort on your part to find where God wants you! Next two things kind of go hand in hand, so pray about everything that comes up in your life and share when God answers those prayers. It is God's will for us to share the gospel and answered prayers are one of the easiest ways to start that conversation. Remember to be intentional to give credit to God when you are sharing as well because our human nature can sometimes make it hard to make that distinction.

Well I want to thank all of you that made it this far in the study. If you enjoyed, please feel free to share this with someone you know, as this is something that we all need to remind ourselves of periodically as Christians. Thanks again for reading and God Bless!!