Do you remember the passage where God told the Israelites (and you and me) that there would be blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience?
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Deuteronomy 30: 19-20 (NIV)
Well, it is true. Not that I ever doubted it, but God gave me a full Technicolor lesson last week concerning the truth of it. In addition to a lesson on obedience, He wrapped a lesson in submission into the whole package. Yep, the S-word.
Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord .For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Ephesians 5: 22-24 (NIV)
One woman’s naming of her disobedience to God from my November speaking event.
I can hear some of you saying, “Oh no, not the S-word.” Yes, the S-word. I saw, personally, how God keeps His promise to bless those who are obedient to His commands. In this case, it was the command for wives to submit to their husbands.
Last week, we had a pesky winter storm here in Georgia. The weather forecasters called for a devastating ice storm in the Atlanta area, and up to 12 inches of snow for those of us in the north Georgia Mountains. It was supposed to hit on Tuesday, with the worst coming on Wednesday. A few weeks prior, I had promised to take some folks to the Atlanta airport to catch a flight on Wednesday. My friends decided to fly out on Tuesday afternoon, hoping that the worst of the storm would wait until Wednesday. The plan was for me to drive their SUV to take them to the airport, which was equipped with four wheel drive capabilities.
When I told my husband on Monday evening that the plans had changed to a Tuesday departure, he studied the forecast, and saw that while the Atlanta area might be spared the worst of the storm until late on Tuesday night, our area would likely begin to get major snow early Tuesday morning. So, while I would possibly be able to get our friends to the airport, getting me back home looked less likely.
Very few times in our marriage has Greg flat-out told me that I can’t do something, but this time, he said he was adamant that I not go. Suddenly, I was in a place of incredible tension. I had PROMISED to take my friends to the airport, and I always try to keep my promises. Yet, I was the woman who 3 months prior had stood before 100 women and given a message on submission. I was the woman who believes that the entire Bible is true and meant for our good, even the part about submission to my husband.
Honestly, five years ago, I would have just gone on, in spite of what Greg said. But now, the Holy Spirit made it clear that I was to be submissive to Greg in this case…even if it meant making my friends mad. I wish I could tell you that I made the choice easily, but I can’t. My heart was so torn, even after telling my friends I couldn’t take them. Yet I submitted to Greg’s request, and ultimately to God’s command.
Another friend of their family took my friends to the airport. As it turned out, there was a break in the weather, and he didn’t have any trouble getting them there. However, on the way back from the airport, the SUV that I would have been driving had major trouble, and he was stranded in the midst of a very bad part of Atlanta. Fortunately, he knew what to do to patch it up and drive it on home. I would not have known what to do. I would have been a woman alone in a dangerous part of Atlanta, had I refused to submit to Greg and gone forward with the original plan.
Y’all, when I heard what had happened, I nearly went face to the floor before the Lord. It was such a vivid lesson in submission and obedience, and it was all I could do to breathe. God knew that there would be car trouble, and He had given Greg a feeling that I was NOT to go. Greg didn’t know why he had such a strong warning against me going. All he knew was that I should not go.
God is serious about submission to our husbands, ladies. God is serious about all His children submitting to His commands. Submission and obedience are for our good. I am so thankful that I was obedient and submitted to Greg, and to God.
