There I was, standing in my underwear when the Drill Instructor walked in, screaming “Atten-hut” and began inspecting the beds, foot lockers and ripping the place apart. This was my introduction to the one & only military way. What I thought…the way I liked it…no longer mattered! After screaming a string of insults, laced in profanity & funny phrases he said, “You’ve got 30 minutes to clean this mess up…You better get it right this time…I’ll be back. Get to it! Now!” Anyone who has been in the military has had this life-changing experience.

To civilians, this appears unfair, unreasonable, and unacceptable. But to those who have been in the military they will tell you this was the moment that changed how they would think. This training Principle is as old as Basic Training. Military units must think as one and obey. Individuality, feelings, and debate over what to do will result in people dying. Not having your gig-line straight, your footlocker out of “Official Order,” your bed not bouncing a quarter, your hair cut, or the thousands of other areas all point to one thing…the Paramount Principle of, “Submit.”  

Over my four years in the Air Force, I witnessed guys fighting the system, trying not to submit. It did not go well for them. But once a person understands & embraces the Principle of Submission, life gets better, not easy, but better.

God wrote about this thousands of years ago in James 4: 7-8 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Did you catch the key? The key to coming near to God and He coming near to you is, “Submit.” Which is another way of saying, relinquish all control, authority of what you want and allow Him full control.

Submitting is total dependance on Him. It is the Faith (Hebrews 11:1) and “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6.

God loves us so much He gave us His Instruction Book, His Guidebook For Living, the Bible. Ponder God’s desire for us. “Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!” Deuteronomy 5:29

Does your life look like the Drill Instructor just walked through turning your world upside down? Pray King Jehoshaphat’s prayer, from 2 Chronicles 20:12, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” Jesus did this very thing in the Garden of Gethsemane before intentionally going to the Cross. “Again, for the second time, He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” Matthew 26:42

Jesus, our “One and Only Savior, has experienced submission in the worst of storms. He knows & understands your fragile, scared & broken heart…Call out His Name, Jesus…Jesus…Jesus, I need you. Help me Jesus!”