We have arrived this week at our final rhythm and the saying ‘last but by no means least’ is very true here. Our final rhythm is the rhythm of Submission.

In Colossians 1:17 we read that, ‘He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.’

Submission is about remembering that it is all about Jesus – that He is the beat that runs through our symphony of life, bringing it all together and giving it structure and meaning.

Submission can be an unsettling word today – a word, perhaps, from another time. In a culture that prizes self-sufficiency, strength and independence the concept doesn’t quite seem to fit. To help us press into it further, let’s have a look at Exodus 33.

Submission is about remembering that it is all about Jesus – that He is the beat that runs through our symphony of life, bringing it all together and giving it structure and meaning.

Moses has just experienced an incredible encounter with God. After noticing the Wonder of God through the burning bush, Moses has gone on to be part of God’s great plan to rescue and deliver His people from the tyranny of the Egyptians and lead them into the land He promised them so long ago through Abraham. And what a plan it has been – full of unbelievable and miraculous events – from the plagues in Egypt to the incredible crossing of the Red Sea and not forgetting the amazing way that God has continued to care for the daily needs of the people, making water flow from rocks and bread rain down from heaven! The people have seen the power of God in action first hand! And now that they are safely on the other side of the Sea, Moses has just spent an incredible time at the top of Mount Sinai, listening as God has shared with him His masterplan for the Israelites in the promised land as He sets out His 10 commandments.

But in the short time that Moses is away from camp, the people have returned to their old, comfortable ways of life that they have picked up from their time in Egypt. The reality of what has just happened begins to set in, along with fear about the unknown and what might come next and the Israelites do what many of us do in those situations – they hedgehog and look down – drawing on their own resources. They turn away from their deliverer, the God of Israel, preferring to rely on something more tangible that they can create themselves and, in their self-sufficiency, they create a golden calf to worship instead. Moses is furious and returns back up the mountain to talk to God about it all.

In V3, God says to Moses – go ahead, you can carry on the journey in to the promised land ‘But I will not go with you because you are a stiff-necked people.’ Being as pragmatic as I am, I wonder if I might have accepted what God says and moved on to how I might make the best of a bad situation? OK – I understand what you are saying, God. Let’s make a plan – where is this promised land? What’s the best way to get there? What do we need to pack for the journey? But not Moses! In everything he has seen, all the miracles he has been involved in, he is under no illusion that it was God that did all of that through him. Without God, he can’t do anything!

And so, Moses question is not where to? But who with? When he says, ‘You have been telling me ‘lead these people’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me’

Moses is less concerned with knowing the destination or route and more concerned with knowing that wherever he goes, he goes with God.

What is my primary concern? Is it where I am going in life? How I am going to get there? How successful/easy/ dangerous/profitable the trip will be? Or is it who I am travelling with? Moses knew that he only wanted to be where God was – that nothing else mattered because without God, life just doesn’t make sense. Submission is simply a living out of that truth – to walk in step with His rhythm instead of trying to beat out our own.

Our passage in Matthew 11 starts with the simple words ‘Come to me’. As we submit to a life with God rather than stubbornly and independently forge out a life without Him, we discover the fulness of life that he promises.

Submission is simply a living out of that truth – to walk in step with His rhythm instead of trying to beat out our own.

Submission is about Hope. It’s about having an awareness that there is more than this. That we worship a lavish God who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine – A letting go of the constraints and limitations that we bring, to make space for the miraculous.

We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His Holy Name.

May your unfailing love be with us Lord, even as we put our hope in You. Ps 33:20-22

How do I feel about the word submission? Talk to God about it.