I had a hard time this week. This was a chapter that tripped me up and made me realize once again that I don’t have all of the answers. Eventually I boiled it down to one word.
Authority. It can be a tough word to deal with can’t it? The human side of us likes to rebel a little, to have things our way. Bucking authority is inborn in us. I mean, how often have you watched a one-year-old, who doesn’t even know moral right from wrong yet, balk at a nap? A two-year-old use the word “no”? We like autonomy and making decisions for ourselves, don’t we?
And how much worse when it’s an authority that has wronged us or that places us in a bad position? Look at Genesis 16. Sarai and Abram take matters into their own hands an pull Hagar into the mix. God promised them He’d give Abram descendants and even said it would be through Sarai, but somewhere along the way, they decided they knew better. The immediate result? A woman is forced into the desert with her son, presumably to die. The long result? An ever-escalating war that we still fight today. Interesting though, that God doesn’t give Hagar a pass. As she sits in the desert waiting to die, He delivers a message to her.
Genesis 16:9 (GW)–The Messenger of the Lord said to her, “Go back to your owner, and place yourself under her authority.”
I’m not knowledgeable enough to go into the whole Islam thing here, so I won’t even begin to comment. But can we look at authority here? God had her go back and submit to Sarai, who had mistreated her? Why? We don’t know for sure, but God certainly had His reasons. The thing is, He knows what He’s doing, and sometimes, He has us submit to an authority that we don’t like.
I have to confess, I’m not for sure I like this verse. I don’t have all of the answers about it. But I do know it is there for a reason. Even Jesus talks later about submitting to authority over us. Why does God have us submit sometimes and step out at other times? Because He sees the bigger picture.
The key is walking close enough to Him to hear His voice when He speaks. Maybe that’s the take-away from this one. After all, God is our ultimate authority, not man. And the core of it all is being obedient to Him.
Even when it’s hard.
Even when it makes no sense.
Anyone else struggling with the chapter this week?
-JB
Carrie L. Lewis says
Jodie,
This is a great lesson and one we need to be constantly reminded of.
God’s people are always to submit to authority and with a definite hierarchy.
God is our first authority, above all else. God and Christ.
Government leaders, good or bad. Christ didn’t abolish the Roman government, which was even more corrupt than ours (though perhaps that margin grows more and more narrow as time passes). He told people how to live Godly lives within it.
Business leaders. Again, Christ didn’t abolish the business world, even though there were egregious behaviors in His day as there are in ours. He taught us how to behave toward our bosses and employers. How? By behaving toward them as toward Him.
Family leaders. Even here, Christ taught us how to respond to parents and spouses who are no more perfect than we are. Again, the goal is to live a life that honors God.
There are times to resist authority, when earthly authorities conflict with God’s authority. If anyone (government, boss, husband, wife, parent, anyone) tells us to do something that contradicts God, we are bound – as children of God and servants of Christ – to refuse.
Not an easy thing.
Jodie says
I love your comments, Carrie! And you are right, in those times we are compelled to resist, it is not easy. Our biggest task is to determine when it is GOD calling us and when it is our FLESH wanting to rebel. That can be a fine line to differentiate sometimes.
Dawn Lucowitz says
I hadn’t ever really looked at this chapter and fully appreciated submission. I have mulled over many of the places in the New Testament that speaks of this, but not here. I always felt so frustrated, sad, and even angry for Hagar. None of this was fair to her. She was put in situations that were beyond her control, she got the bad end of the deal, and then Abraham and Sarah move on and become so important.
At our youth group we did a lot of discussing about fairness and justness. This was such a reminder to me that things aren’t always fair, but God is always just. God sees things that we can’t see. He has bigger plans than we can comprehend. I feel like I always have to remind myself that even though things seem cruddy here sometimes, we are here for such a short time and any sufferings will be well worth it.
If Hagar has the faith in God to go submit to Sari, how can I not submit to my spouse, my bosses (when I was working), and even harder still, our government.
I love the comments that Carrie added here and totally agree with Jodie that it is our biggest task to determine when God is calling us and when it is our flesh wanting us to rebel.
All year, throughout my PWOC study and many of these readings, my big take away has been needing to strengthen my relationship with God so I can understand his leading and to be stronger in His word so that I may know the difference between His calling and the world’s leading.
Jodie says
I heard a comment the other day, and something you said reminded me of it. “For the believer in Christ, this world is the worst it will ever get. For the non-believer, this world is the best it will ever get.” I had never had it put into that perspective before. It made me think.
I know I need to get closer to Him. My “hearer” is off kilter sometimes. You have grown so amazingly. I love your comments!!!