Thinking Like a Christian

A series of Scripture meditations on what the Bible teaches about the Christian life.

by Pastor Pete Beck III

These meditations are copyrighted,

but feel free to download them for

personal use or to forward to friends.

 

 

 

 

 

God Requires Us to Submit to People We May Wrongly Despise

 

Then the Lord’s angel said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her authority. Genesis 16:9 (NET1)

 

Why does God make it so difficult for us in the area of submission to authority? Someone has said that God confounds the mind to reveal what is in the heart, or something close to that. Our biggest problem is usually pride, and submission to authority strikes at the root of pride. When God requires us to submit to someone we deem to be inferior to ourselves in some way, the battle is on. That is what happened to Hagar in the Old Testament.

 

You probably know the story. Abram and Sarai had not been able to have children. Sarai came up with the idea that her servant could provide them with offspring, an acceptable practice in that time. Abram impregnated Hagar, and she began to despise her mistress, thinking that she was better because of her ability to conceive. This caused consternation and pain in Sarai so that she complained about Hagar to her husband, who gave her permission to do whatever she desired about the situation. Consequently, Sarai began to treat Hagar harshly provoking her to flee. This is when the angel found her and gave the command in our opening verse above.

 

Just because we are mistreated by someone who has authority over us, especially if our bad attitude caused the mistreatment, is no excuse for running. Instead God expects us to first of all submit and, secondly, to work on our bad attitude. The Lord can do amazing things when we follow this principle.

 

The Lord delights in using most unlikely people. Consider the words of Paul.

 

Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters. Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position. 27 But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, 29 so that no one can boast in his presence. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 (NET1)

 

As I mentioned earlier, pride is our big problem, and, if God chose to use us because of some greatness in ourselves, we would unfailing get the "big head". So, God chooses people who are in some ways "unfit" from a human perspective. Moses was not an eloquent speaker. Paul was not an impressive man in person. David was so lightly esteemed by his own father that he was not even asked to appear before Samuel the prophet. The list goes on. Yet God chooses and uses such people because it brings him pleasure and glory to do the seemingly impossible through the most unlikely. Is that not why he chose Jacob over Esau and Israel over all the nations of the earth? Is that not why He chose you and me? So, it should come as no surprise that God would require us to submit to people who are in leadership who have significant weaknesses and faults.

 

When we submit or "come under" such people with a proper attitude, God sees it as submitting to Him personally. This is because all authority ultimately derives from God.

 

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2 So the person who resists such authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment. Romans 13:1-2 (NET1)

 

When a wife submits to her husband "as to the Lord", she is acting out a faith that God is bigger than her husband, and, even if he makes mistakes or is wrongly motivated by selfishness, etc., that God is powerful enough to handle things and keep her safe. This is what Sarah did in the Old Testament, and God saved her more than once from being defiled by other men when Abraham allowed her to go unprotected because of his fear of the local rulers.

 

For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do. 1 Peter 3:6 (NLT)

 

If we fail in this regard, we bring down God's judgment. Think, for example, of Korah in the Old Testament, who despised Moses' authority and led a rebellion against him. God struck down this man and all who stood with him. Complaining and rebelling against authority is one of the most fearful and wicked things we can do, as illustrated by the repeated times God severely judged this sin.

 

God is not so interested that our lives be "fair" and without pain as he is determined to conform us to Christ's image and character. It is the fire of affliction that God uses to purify his people from bad attitudes and deceptive and rebellious ways. If you are not currently in a situation in which God requires you to submit to an unlikely person, don't worry. You will probably get one down the road. If you are in such a situation, look at it as an opportunity to grow in faith and humility. And, just think, you might be that kind of leader whom God is using to test someone else. I am sure that is the case with me.

 

 

---

 

You can subscribe to future meditations by clicking here.
Your address will not be sold or given to others.
You can unsubscribe by clicking here.
To contact Pastor Pete, click here.