By Petey Prater
I
know, I know, I should feel guilty. But I don’t. I’m not a dog lover. I
think it was the Schnauzer that did me in. He was in charge from the get go. If
the door opened he was gone. As in - catch me if you can. He never obeyed.
Never surrendered. Never submitted. I finally gave him away to some
unsuspecting soul, no love lost. Un-submitted dogs are a pain.
Un-submitted
people are in pain. Submission, in the Greek, means “set under or
covered, to make subject to.” Submission is giving away my person and power to
the control of another. As a Christian I’m not to yield to the enemy,
unrighteousness, or self will. But I am called to submit and serve God and
others. God releases authority, power, ability, and joy to His servants.
He trusts bowed Christians to use power wisely; their purposes are pure. The
goal is God’s glory, not their own. Surrendered Christians have no need to
defend or vindicate themselves. They know how to live because they’ve learned
how to die.
Submission is difficult though for anyone who has raw emotional or spiritual wounds. And it doesn’t matter whether self or others inflicted the pain, the results the same. Once trust has been betrayed it’s difficult to be vulnerable again. Inability to trust causes the walking wounded to respond in guarded, broken ways, even in relationship with God. Self’s view is distorted when we’re peering out through a grid of bruises, injustice and unresolved grief. Living in relationship reopens un-surrendered, un-healed wounds; wounds filled with pain, suspicion, or judgments. Hurt people (and who among us has not been hurt) can get stuck in denial, anger, and depression.
And
there’s no help in sight. Except Jesus. His job description reads, “Have
Wounds. Will Travail.” Jesus knew I’d need Him. He allows my heartache because
He intends it to lead me to Him. “… by His wounds you were healed.”
(emphasis on ‘were’)1 Peter 2:24
To find healing I must trust Jesus’ love and Sovereignty, submit to His
cross and let Counselor do heart surgery on me.
Satan and demon powers want me proud and offended, locked in anger and
self-justification. They know submission leads to maturity in Christ. And
mature Christians are downright dangerous! The path to healing is the same for us
all, death to self. God said to me one day as I struggled to yield, “You can be
right or you can be whole.”
Do
we have a problem relating to others? Bowing to authority? Trusting
friendships? Let’s run to Father. Ask for His view. Ask Him to show us our hearts as He sees
them. Invite Him to pull each thorn from our souls. Give our offenders to God.
Trust. Receive healing. Forgive self. Forgive others. Move on in joy.
Petey Prater writes from Beaverton, Oregon.
peteyprater@yahoo.com