Concerning Submission

Concerning Submission

The wife is to be under her own husband, the younger under the older, servants under their masters, and everyone under one another in the fear of Christ.

It is so unspeakably difficult for every one of us, especially for the wife. So that God’s will in this matter shall be firmly established, the apostle has expressed himself so plainly that you cannot find a hairbreadth of playroom: “As to the Lord.” Eph. 5:22. And, “In everything.” V. 24.

Therefore let everyone who has faith and love be quick to take heed and be obedient. Let him jump for joy without understanding why! Everyone who proceeds according to this guideline will not be old before he discovers wisdom, and through this wisdom he will understand “why,” and even “how”!

For example, when a husband decides to plant potatoes on a certain plot of land, and the wife is convinced that they will harvest a whole bushel more potatoes by planting them in another place, is it then God’s will anyway to plant them where the husband has decided they should be planted? Yes, of course! It says, “In all things,” and “As to the Lord.”

But can it be God’s will to do something so unreasonable? Man should not consider something unreasonable that God has found to be reasonable.

If such obedience from the wife’s side contributed to breaking her “I,” what would be more valuable—this contribution or a tub full of potatoes? And what would you say if God, as a reward for her obedience, let twice as many potatoes grow than expected on the plot the husband had decided on? Or if He had let the whole house be filled with earthly goods? He is able to do that! You fool; don’t you know the difference between man and God? Between God’s commandments and man’s precepts?

Let all objections and unnecessary questions go; stop being disobedient and stubborn—you child of dust! Hasten to be obedient—blindly obedient according to God’s Word! Then your inner man will not only be filled with blessedness and peace, but gradually also with understanding and insight in all things, in all situations.

To this we are called; namely to be children who are innocent when it comes to malice (disobedience), but fully mature in understanding (which is a consequence of obedience). All the faithful servants in the church labor toward this end—not only to lead people to faith, but to obedience! Yes, they labor to present every man perfect in Christ.

You reveal great folly when you say you “don’t understand” God’s instruction. The God-fearing race ahead simply because God has said it without any objecting questions. They understand by faith. Heb. 11:3. Now God has ordered it so blessedly that those who obey His instructions without objection will be full of understanding afterwards, while the others who want to understand it first before they “consent” to live according to God’s commandments will never understand them nor come to know their substance.

What, then, shall the subordinate person do? He shall joyfully and with understanding submit and be obedient— always and in everything (except when it might be contrary to his conscience).

If my superior wants to hear my opinion, I can give it to him respectfully and meekly, but never as an objection. If he doesn’t bother with it, then I shouldn’t bother myself about it either, but rather let it go and joyfully and with hope carry out the given instruction, knowing that it will not be to my disadvantage, but to my benefit.