Spiritual Lifehacks - Submission
Three weeks ago we began our series on Spiritual Lifehacks with rhythm -- establishing a set rhythm of time alone with God and time with other people is very important to your physical health. Two weeks ago we discussed listening to God through prayer. Tonight we’re going to continue our series with a lifehack on how to improve something we all enjoy -- sleep.
There are several things you can do to improve your quality of sleep. One is to remember the “90-minute Rule”. Most people have a 90-minute sleep cycle, which means your brain cycles through different types of sleep every 90 minutes, so it’s important to keep those cycles uninterrupted. This means that, for most people, you will feel more rested with 7.5 hours of sleep than with a full 8 hours. A good way to ensure you do this is to determine what time you need to get up, and count backwards in 90-minute intervals to find what time you need to go to sleep. If you need to wake up at 6 AM, for example, try falling asleep at 9:00, 10:30, or even midnight.
On a related note, if you wake up in the middle of the night -- or, if you wake up before your alarm goes off -- and you don’t go back to sleep in 20 minutes, stay up. Your body has gotten the rest it needed and woke you up for a reason. If you force yourself to go back to sleep, you’ll throw off your internal clock and end up feeling more tired because of it. This is what happens when you feel tired because you got too much sleep!
Another hack that seems like it doesn’t quite make sense: drink a cup of coffee 20-30 minutes before you take a short nap. Caffeine takes 20-30 minutes to reach your brain, so if you time your nap right, the caffeine will kick in right when you wake up.
The color of the light in your room can make a huge difference as well. Research has shown that blue and other cool-colored light keeps you awake because it slows down your brain’s production of melatonin, the sleep chemical. Warm-colored light, like amber, does the opposite and will help you fall asleep faster. Unfortunately, the light from your TV, laptop, computer, phone, iPod, tablet, and any other electronic device is -- you guessed it -- blue! On a side note, there’s a reason why I have blue lights in the room so often...
Sleep is something we all must do, and most of us simply don’t get enough. Improving your quantity and quality of sleep will give you more energy so you can have a happier and more productive day. Now, this is all well and good, but what does this have to do with improving our spiritual relationship with God?
I’m so glad you asked!
Turn with me to Colossians chapter 3. Verse 17 says, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Go forward to verse 23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” Go now, please, to I Corinthians 10:31, “So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
Do you guys see where I’m going here? Whatever you do, whatever you say, whatever you eat, and whatever you drink -- do it all in the name of Jesus, working for Him and for the glory of God. Whatever you do -- including sleep.
But how do you do this? How can you be sure that you do everything for the glory of God? After all, we’re all sinners, and sin by definition doesn’t glorify God.
It’s easy -- just submit. I know, that’s harsh. Submission is often considered to be a “dirty word” in today’s society. However, it’s important to know not only who to submit to, but how to submit.
Who to submit to is easy -- at least, at first. James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Simple enough. Submit to God -- easy, right?
Unfortunately, all too often people concentrate only on the second half of that sentence -- resist the devil -- instead of the first part. We try and try to resist the devil and sin on our own, but we simply can’t do it. When we inevitably give in to temptation, we feel frustrated and discouraged.
The key to a closer relationship with God -- which is, after all, what this is all about -- does not hang on our own resistance to the devil! This is great news -- if it was up to us, no one would be able to go to Heaven. No, it hangs on our complete submission to God.
So how do you submit? True submission has several steps to it, just like the sleep hacks I mentioned earlier.
Let go of any sin you’re harboring, and give up any habits or activities that make it easier to be tempted to sin
Like I said before, we’re all sinners and sin can’t possibly glorify God. If we’re not glorifying God, then we can’t submit to Him. It stands to reason, then, that the first thing we need to do to submit to God is to give up are sins to Him. This goes a bit further, though, in that we should also be proactive and remove anything in our life -- any habits or activities -- that make it easier to sin or be tempted to sin. Matthew 18:8-9 says, “If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.” Those are harsh words -- but they apply to more than just body parts. If there is a part of your life that causes you to sin, get rid of it.
Pray for God’s help, strength, and guidance
Now, let’s be realistic here. Even if we get rid of the parts of our life that cause temptation, that doesn’t mean that we will never get tempted! Temptation comes from outside sources just as easily as from our own heart, and we need to be prepared for that. When that time comes, we need to pray for God’s help, strength, and guidance. This is part of what we discussed two weeks ago -- we’re continuously tempted, so we need to be in continuous prayer.
Surrendering your own preconceived ideas and strategies on how to overcome sin yourself, relying instead on God’s plans - then follow those plans!
We all have preconceived notions of what it takes to overcome sin. Some people think that if we go to church all the time it’ll be easier to overcome sin; or if we only listen to Christian music and only watch Christian movies, we can overcome sin. There is nothing wrong with any of those things -- they’re all good! But that’s not how you overcome sin. The second step we mentioned was to pray for God’s help, strength, and guidance. But what’s the point of praying for His guidance if we don’t do what He guides us to do? Submission to God requires that we actually listen and obey to what He tells us.
Keeping a humble attitude toward God, others, and the situation in general
Knowing this, though, means that we can’t get arrogant about our resistance to sin. It’s not our resistance in the first place! If we stay humble towards the situation as well, though, it becomes easier to submit to God because we can admit that we are no longer in control. If we constantly tell ourselves and others that we are not in control of the situation, then what is there to be arrogant about? It’s not up to us, it never was, nor should it ever me.
Continuing to rely on God and pursue His purposes after the victory
This is what can be difficult. Once God helps us resist the temptation, and once the trials are past, it’s all too easy to forget about our submission to God’s control and go back to our old way of thinking. Even after God grants us victory over a sin or a temptation in our lives, we must continue to listen to God’s guidance; otherwise, we will end up in the exact same predicament again. Submission is a continual process. God is not a magical genie, granting wishes when we get in trouble -- He is our creator, our God, and our father. He’s here all the time -- we should listen to Him.
Giving gratitude to God for helping you resist and overcome Satan.
This is more than just being polite, it’s also Biblical! Remember Colossians 3:17 from earlier? “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Whatever you do, give thanks to God. God is the one who helped you gain victory over your temptation, so be thankful!
Submission isn’t something that we like to talk about. In the United States, we take freedom as a God-given right -- and indeed it is! Because of that, though, we tend to see submission as something against freedom -- how can you be free if you’re submitting to someone else?
True freedom comes through submission, though -- not to government, or people; but only to God.By submitting to man, we have freedom to sin. By submitting to God, we have freedom from sin.
This is Easter Week, when we celebrate the final week of Jesus’ life before his crucifixion and resurrection. Can you imagine what was going through Jesus mind? Think about it -- He knew He would be betrayed by a friend, denied by another, and abandoned by almost everyone else. He had the power to strike back, and defend Himself with divine power, proving His status as the only Son of God. So why didn’t He do that?
Jesus submitted to His Father. Luke 22:42 says, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me, yet not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus was human; He didn’t want to die such a horrible death on the cross. But He also knew how to submit and who to submit to -- “yet not my will, but yours be done”. Because Jesus submitted to God -- even when He didn’t particularly want to! -- our sins are forgiven, and we can have hope in knowing that we will spend eternity with God in heaven.
The Bible tells us repeatedly to do all things for the glory of God. This includes sleep! If we don’t get enough quality sleep, then it is much harder for us to function. Submission is no different. If we don’t set a good rhythm of time with God and time with others; and we don’t stay in continual prayer with God during our lives, then it is much harder for us to submit to His authority. If we don’t submit to His authority, then we cannot resist the devil. If we don’t submit to God’s authority, then we cannot have true freedom from sin.
