Submitting to authority. It's a key christian concept we are all familiar with. We're supposed to submit our lives to Christ. In fact, the day we accept Jesus into our hearts is the day we submit forever to Him. Submitting to God is hard a lot of the time. It's difficult to accept His way with a joyful heart and to respond to His calls. Many times I have tried to work my way around God's plan, only to end up failing and having to reach out to Him for forgiveness and then I humbly follow Him.
Unfortunately, I have never been one who is good at submitting to authority. I was the little girl who challenged her parents rules and liked to push boundaries. Looking back on myself as a little girl, I am somewhat ashamed of my disrespect and also incredibly grateful for my parents patience.
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother- which is the first commandment with a promise-, so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth." - Ephesians 6:1-3
Fast forward about a decade or so and then I was 15 and ready to prepare to get my drivers license. In the state of Washington (where I live) to get your license while under 18, you had to take a drivers safety education class of some kind. My mom was gracious to sign me up for a class that started only a couple of days after my fifteenth birthday. I was so excited to be able to drive, and I absolutely loved driving, but I had very different feelings about drivers ed.
I hated it.
I hated it with a passion. The first couple of weeks I hated everything about it. I hated my teacher, I hated the strict rules, and I hated the countless corrections my driving instructor would give me in the car. My sweet best friend who was my driving partner was confused to my extreme dislike of the class, because to her it wasn't that bad. One day when we were driving home from class, my mom made a insight that I didn't like it because of all of the rules. I didn't like it because I don't like being told what to do.
*Crickets* She was right. I did not/ do not like being told what to do.
"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." - 1 Samuel 15:23
I realized what my mom was saying went farther then just my rebellious attitude in drivers ed. Sometimes I challenge my own mother, my teachers, other adults, and then I realized I challenge God sometimes too...yikes!
Who am I to challenge our Creator? Sometimes I'll hear God's voice and choose to ignore it- and that's NOT OKAY.
God doesn't need me. This isn't a story about the life of Jane. This life is about building His kingdom, not mine.
What I really leaned in drivers ed: If I can't submit to earthly authorities in my life, then I will never be able to submit to God. I prayed long and hard that hot July night and I told God I was changing my ways- that I was going to learn to submit.
By the end of drivers ed, I wasn't rolling my eyes with disrespect every time the instructor opened his mouth. God used drivers ed to paint me a bigger picture: that I needed to submit.
Think about this in terms of your own life. Is there an earthly authority you need to submit to? Are you submitting to God? We have these rebellious attitudes that only fuel our "it's all about me" attitude. However, at the end of the day, it isn't about us- it's about HIM.
Unfortunately, I have never been one who is good at submitting to authority. I was the little girl who challenged her parents rules and liked to push boundaries. Looking back on myself as a little girl, I am somewhat ashamed of my disrespect and also incredibly grateful for my parents patience.
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother- which is the first commandment with a promise-, so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth." - Ephesians 6:1-3
Fast forward about a decade or so and then I was 15 and ready to prepare to get my drivers license. In the state of Washington (where I live) to get your license while under 18, you had to take a drivers safety education class of some kind. My mom was gracious to sign me up for a class that started only a couple of days after my fifteenth birthday. I was so excited to be able to drive, and I absolutely loved driving, but I had very different feelings about drivers ed.
I hated it.
I hated it with a passion. The first couple of weeks I hated everything about it. I hated my teacher, I hated the strict rules, and I hated the countless corrections my driving instructor would give me in the car. My sweet best friend who was my driving partner was confused to my extreme dislike of the class, because to her it wasn't that bad. One day when we were driving home from class, my mom made a insight that I didn't like it because of all of the rules. I didn't like it because I don't like being told what to do.
*Crickets* She was right. I did not/ do not like being told what to do.
"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." - 1 Samuel 15:23
I realized what my mom was saying went farther then just my rebellious attitude in drivers ed. Sometimes I challenge my own mother, my teachers, other adults, and then I realized I challenge God sometimes too...yikes!
Who am I to challenge our Creator? Sometimes I'll hear God's voice and choose to ignore it- and that's NOT OKAY.
God doesn't need me. This isn't a story about the life of Jane. This life is about building His kingdom, not mine.
What I really leaned in drivers ed: If I can't submit to earthly authorities in my life, then I will never be able to submit to God. I prayed long and hard that hot July night and I told God I was changing my ways- that I was going to learn to submit.
By the end of drivers ed, I wasn't rolling my eyes with disrespect every time the instructor opened his mouth. God used drivers ed to paint me a bigger picture: that I needed to submit.
Think about this in terms of your own life. Is there an earthly authority you need to submit to? Are you submitting to God? We have these rebellious attitudes that only fuel our "it's all about me" attitude. However, at the end of the day, it isn't about us- it's about HIM.
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