To submit is to yield, to subject oneself to the authority of another. We naturally do not like to submit; we want to chart our own course. Even Christians do not like to submit to the authority of God. In Genesis 43:1-14, we learn how the unwillingness to submit to God is manifested, and how submission looks like.

(a) Delay/procrastination in submission

Jacob delayed his sons’ return to Egypt, despite the fact that Simeon was still held captive in Egypt. Only when they started to run out of food, that Jacob talked about his sons’ return to Egypt. In application, a person who is unwilling to submit to God will procrastinate in dealing with an issue: it could be an unequally yoke relationship, a sinful addiction, etc. Returning to submit to God is not a complicated issue; it is a matter of whether you are willing to surrender that which hinders your relationship with God. Thank God that His love will not let us go, and God will deal with us to bring us back to Him.

(b) Blaming others

By Jacob’s blaming others, we can also see his unwillingness to submit to God. He blamed his sons for their current plight. In our unwillingness to submit to God, we could similarly blame others for our situation.

(c) Selfishness

A person, who refuses to submit or surrender to God, will also manifest traits of selfishness. Jacob only cared about himself and his own loss and did not think about God and others around. As the head of the house, he should care about the people whom he was responsible for.

In this account, we see Judah’s submission to God (Gen 43:8-9). We must think about those who will be impacted by us. God has entrusted them to us, and we are responsible for them, and are accountable to God for them. Judah considered all these things.

We need to know who we are submitting to. We can be reassured and comforted to know that when we submit to God, we are submitting to a loving, merciful, and powerful God. May God help us all to submit to him.