“Submit Yourself” (Gen 16:9)

“The Angel of the Lord said to her, Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand” (vs9).

We submit ourselves to the Lord Jesus, if we will be saved, and the gospel SUBMITS us to God. We are not saved apart from bowing the knee, even as Pharaoh gave command to everyone saying, “Bow the knee! So he set him over all the land of Egypt” (Gen 41:43). We surrender to Him as Boss, Lord, and Rule Maker for our lives.

God has counsel for us, even as He had for Hagar: “Submit yourself under her hand”.

Husbands, love your wife, “just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Eph 5:25-28). This is submission to Christ. You do it because He loves you, because He commands, and because you can't be happy or saved in sinfulness. Wives, “submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord”, because He is the Savior of the body, the church (vs22-24). He died for you, and He commands, gives, and takes pleasure in your obedience.

Children, pastors, employees, employers, etc, are all TOLD what to do. John the Baptist, when approached by the crowd about what they should do, told them specific instructions according to their station in life. He said, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise”. Others came and he said, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you”, so that he taught according to station, and you have been placed in this world, in your body, in your situation and with your ability to honor God, and you're to use it abundantly by submission (Luke 3:10-14).

We obey in every station of life to find salvation. Hagar is weary, and God gives her, like you and I, weary and heavy laden with shame, the power to get out. He tells us clearly what must be done. Submit to His will.

Secondly, the promise is given to the weary. Ishmael never had Hagar's weariness, so he never had Hagar's God. Hagar had God's grace to see Him who sees her. She was afflicted and on the run, “feeling from the presence of [her] mistress”, when God told her to submit to her hand.

If she hadn't been weary, the command would have no power in her life. She left home because her PRIDE forced the issue and caused a repercussion, even as our sinfulness has brought us to misery, helplessness, and willingness to obey. Now, she hears “submit yourself”, and rather than saying, “I'm too good. I don't need God or you”, she now says by her obedience, “Amen. Your will be done. If this is the only way of peace, then THANKS, and I take it!” Our Lord Jesus says to the weary, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt 11:29).

Finally, only obedience can reveal the joy of the gospel. The Lord said, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?” She went home at God's command, and things were as He promised. The child was born, she found refuge, and so shall we. He shows you His beauty AS you believe. She said, “Have I also seen Him who sees me?”