What It Really Means to Submit Yourself to God

The first time I felt frustrated with the concept of submitting myself to God was when I was choosing where to go to college. I knew it was a big decision—maybe the biggest decision I had made up to that point in my life—so I invested my whole self into it. I researched, applied, and finally heard good news from several schools.

“Okay, God,” I said. “Where should I go?”

Silence.

*Photo Credit: Oleh Slobodeniuk, Creative Commons

I waited and waited and waited to hear from him about what I should do next, but he never responded. I couldn’t figure out what his problem was. I didn’t want to make this decision on my own. I wanted to submit it to God (wasn’t that the right thing to do?). And yet here I had submitted it, and he was ignoring me.

Maybe he was just busy, I figured (it’s a hectic time helping all those high school graduates figure out where they’re going to go to college).

So, I picked the school with the best financial aid package, the nicest dorms, and where one of my friends was going. Maybe she had submitted her decision to Jesus, and I could just ride her coattails.

Choosing a college wasn’t the only time in my life I felt this tension when “submitting” myself, my life or a specific decision to God. I often felt this way when I was starting a new job, or quitting an old one. I felt like this when I was dating someone and I wasn’t sure if this was going to lead to marriage. Anytime there was a big decision to make, or a direction to turn—I always wanted to let “Jesus take the wheel.”

But strangely, he rarely did.

I stayed in one bad relationship for four years before I finally figured out God wasn’t going to end it for me. I would have to end it myself. I took half a dozen jobs that were a terrible fit for my skills, until I finally realized I was the one who had applied for this job, I was the one who had accepted it, and I was the one who stuck around, even when it wasn’t working out.

I had no one to blame but myself.

But what about submitting to God? If I truly “submitted” my life to God, wouldn’t I just spend my life waiting around? It sure felt like it.

Then, a few years ago, I started writing. And there were several things that were significant about that change in profession for me, but one of the least significant things actually became the most significant, when I discovered the meaning of the word submit. As a writer, I began to submit things to people all the time. And the word submit, in the writing profession, didn’t mean anything like I assumed it meant when it came to “submitting” to God.

When I submit a piece of writing to a magazine, or a publisher, I do tons of research first. I want to know what the publication is looking for, what kind of content matters to them, what their DNA is, what their audience is like. I come with a strong idea—one I’m fairly certain they’ll like (because I know them pretty well)—and I’ve spent hours and hours, not to mention sweat and tears, refining this idea to make it perfect.

I’ve labored over this piece of art, this article or book. I’ve poured my whole self into it.

I’ve spent days, weeks, even years sometimes on the couch, or in coffee shops, early in the morning, or late at night.

Then, I “submit” it to the editor or publisher and say, with as much confidence as I can muster, “this is the best I can do. I’ve given you everything I have. But I realize I might have missed some things. Will you help me make it better?” I give them full reign to open the document, to use a red pen. They make some changes (which are mandatory), and some suggestions (which are not).

Then, I take it back and get back to work.

The process of “submission” in the life of a writer is never over. We’re never done refining, working, making things better. We’re never done putting our art on the line.

And I’m not a Bible scholar, so I don’t know the greek translation for the word “submit” in the New Testament, but what if, as Christians, we looked at submission to God this way, rather than waiting for him to boss us around. What if labored over our lives, day and night, trying to make them beautiful? And then, when we felt like we were really onto something, we showed them to Him and said:

“This is the best I can do. I’ve given you everything I have. But I realize I might have missed some things.”

“Will you make it better?”

What It Really Means to Submit Yourself to God is a post from: Storyline Blog