Preventive Submission

God’s purpose throughout our spiritual journey is to produce in us an attitude of complete surrender, of absolute submission to His will; to break and train us until all that remains is an ingrained instinct to yield to the slightest prompting of the divine Spirit.

I call this “preemptive submission.” It is a fundamental attitude that governs every aspect and action of our lives, an instinctive readiness to obey God in any situation, no matter how strong the temptation to go in another direction. In this pliable and humble posture of the believer lie infinite security and inviolable protection.

It is this attitude of unconditional surrender to God’s will—a humbling of the self and the human will that leads to a profound sense of security—that David expresses in Psalm 131:

1 LORD, my heart is not proud, nor are my eyes haughty; I have not occupied myself with great matters, or with things too lofty for me.

2 Truly I have quieted and stilled my soul like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul.

3 Hope in the LORD, O Israel, from now and forevermore.

The psalmist has humbled himself before the LORD. He recognizes the limits of his understanding. He accepts his limitations as he explores the mysteries and great decisions of life. He sees himself as a fragile baby, wholly dependent on his mother’s protection. In that utter fragility, however, there is absolute trust. The psalmist has “stilled” his soul, quieted the voices of anguish and doubt, and entrusted himself entirely to his mother’s protection. And he calls Israel to that same surrender and submission: “Hope in the LORD, O Israel, from now and forevermore.”

STUBBORN DISOBEDIENCE

As I write these lines, I think of a young woman I have known for years. We will call her Diana. She comes from a family battered by life, beset by addiction and failure. She is attractive, intelligent, and motivated, the only one of her siblings who has managed to escape vice and the wrong paths. She has managed to get an education and has a good job. A few years ago she came to my church and gave her life to the Lord. She was doing very well, growing and prospering spiritually, experiencing great joy on her spiritual journey. Until a man came into her life. He was not a believer, nor was he interested in the things of God. But he filled the emotional void within her, that physical need to feel accompanied, affirmed as a woman. A man’s presence gave her life a new texture. It allowed her to express dimensions of her personality that would otherwise have remained repressed. Diana chose to leave the church to pursue her own path, to fulfill her foolish romantic dream in her own way. For years I heard nothing more from her, until recently, when she returned to the church, admitting that she had made a mistake, with two children without a father as the result of that disobedient relationship.

Upon her return, Diana enthusiastically resumed her spiritual journey. She began taking discipleship classes and soon became a valuable resource to the church leadership. She began to participate actively in other aspects of congregational life and to make a positive contribution with her many talents and considerable energy. Everything indicated that Diana had learned her lesson and had finally become settled in her spiritual stance. She overflowed with enthusiasm and commitment. Watching her reintegration into Christian life, we all rejoiced at her evident progress. In a church like ours, where the believer’s spiritual transformation is continually emphasized, Diana seemed a perfect embodiment of our values of repentance, service, and total surrender to the Lord. Her spiritual future seemed bright and promising. Until a man came into her life.

A few months after her second arrival, Diana met another man. This time, he was someone with serious needs and a troubled past. But he was a man, and he represented an available companion, a sexual resource, a convenient and accessible way to meet a pressing emotional need. Soon afterward, the promising spiritual edifice under construction came crashing down. Diana moved in with her new partner, abandoned all her commitments at church, and refused to accept the pastoral counsel we tried to offer her. Her response to pastoral admonition was very gentle but firm. She knew her behavior was contrary to Christian principles, but that was the decision she had made.

Fully aware that she was being disobedient, and consciously disregarding the painful lessons of the past, Diana ventured once again into the wilderness of rebellion and stubborn disobedience. Her compulsive need, and the promise of easy and pleasurable emotional fulfillment, were too powerful to be overcome by the call of the principles of the Word. Needless to say, unless God’s mercy intervenes overwhelmingly, Diana’s failure this time will be much more painful than the last.

Only many afflictions and God’s persistent discipline will be able to instill in people like Diana that posture of all-encompassing submission shown by the psalmist in Psalm 131. Such a person often arrives at an attitude of true surrender only after many failures and defeats, at the end of a series of painful experiences and disappointments that gradually break the self and shape the will until it is finally submissive and obedient to the principles of God’s word. Sadly, the cost of that long-term learning process is tragically high—children born outside marriage, with their own wounds and insecurities that they will eventually have to work through; physical illnesses and emotional distortions acquired during those periods of pleasurable but dangerous experimentation; spiritual oppression resulting from implicit dealings with the forces of darkness.

It is this human reality that fills the pews of our congregations every Sunday, the residue of sin that continually challenges pastoral care in our churches. The only preventive medicine for that host of ills? Obedience! Solomon’s wise counsel (which, sadly, he himself ended up disobeying) points us in this direction (Prov. 3:1, 2, 5–8):

1 My son, do not forget my teaching, and let your heart keep my commandments;

2 For they will add length of days and years of life and peace to you.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

6 Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight.

7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil;

8 For it will be healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.