The Illusion

In the previous verses, James is talking about the battle that is being played out for our very souls as we daily face the world and navigate this journey through life. His solution is simple. Submit to God. I am softening to this. It has been a process. I can remember when reading this verse caused me to bristle. The command to “submit” elicited a brow-furrowed, squinty-eyed, I-am-in-charge-here, Clint Eastwood stance. That is how I saw myself. To God, I probably looked more like a toddler having a temper tantrum, throwing myself down and howling, “you are not the boss of me!”

I am learning that to submit to God means understanding with my heart, AND my soul, AND my head, that God is sovereign and I am not AND being okay with that. To submit is not just acknowledging the reality that I am not in control; to submit is to participate in relinquishing that illusion and acknowledge my trust in my Father. It is declaring to the world God IS the boss of me! But even more than that, it is trusting in God’s goodness, no matter how hard life might seem at this moment in time. If you cling to that truth in your life, you aren’t only going to draw near to God, as James urges, but you will be stuck to Him like Velcro, and then the devil doesn’t stand a chance!