Today was the last day of the semester for my women's Bible study group. We've been working on a study by James MacDonald called "Lord, Change My Attitude". It was a really good study, and this last week was on submission.
One of the lovely ladies in my group Hildy had this great example of what submission is in a marriage.
It's like an engine and a coal car. The track is only wide enough for one train car at a time to go down the track. One of them has to go first. Husbands are like the engine. They are designed to go first and to do the work of pulling the train. The rest of the train goes where the engine leads because it is first on the track. Wives are like the coal car. They follow right behind the engine. The always follow, but the engine cannot lead without any coal. The coal car is equally as important as the engine, but it just has a different function. Just as the engine cannot function without the coal car, so too is the coal car not usable without the engine. One cannot work without the other....they are interdependent. What a mess it would be if the coal car tried to go around the engine and lead the train! Not only would it cause all sorts of chaos, but the train would not go anywhere fast because coal cars were not designed to pull a train. That's the engine's job.
Many times we have the same problem in our relationship with God. Granted, God can pull the train without any help from us (the coal car), but how many times do we try to pull the whole train ourselves instead of letting God be the engine (AND the coal car, for that matter). How free we could be if we just followed instead of always trying to lead!
It's a choice we make. Do we submit to the authority that God places over us and ultimately submit to God, or do we step out of God's protection by not submitting? I firmly believe that if we submit to the human authority God has placed in our lives, He promises to provide protection and blessing EVEN IF the human authority makes a mistake. If we rebel against that authority, we step out of God's umbrella of protection.
One of the lovely ladies in my group Hildy had this great example of what submission is in a marriage.
It's like an engine and a coal car. The track is only wide enough for one train car at a time to go down the track. One of them has to go first. Husbands are like the engine. They are designed to go first and to do the work of pulling the train. The rest of the train goes where the engine leads because it is first on the track. Wives are like the coal car. They follow right behind the engine. The always follow, but the engine cannot lead without any coal. The coal car is equally as important as the engine, but it just has a different function. Just as the engine cannot function without the coal car, so too is the coal car not usable without the engine. One cannot work without the other....they are interdependent. What a mess it would be if the coal car tried to go around the engine and lead the train! Not only would it cause all sorts of chaos, but the train would not go anywhere fast because coal cars were not designed to pull a train. That's the engine's job.
Many times we have the same problem in our relationship with God. Granted, God can pull the train without any help from us (the coal car), but how many times do we try to pull the whole train ourselves instead of letting God be the engine (AND the coal car, for that matter). How free we could be if we just followed instead of always trying to lead!
It's a choice we make. Do we submit to the authority that God places over us and ultimately submit to God, or do we step out of God's protection by not submitting? I firmly believe that if we submit to the human authority God has placed in our lives, He promises to provide protection and blessing EVEN IF the human authority makes a mistake. If we rebel against that authority, we step out of God's umbrella of protection.
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