Book Club Chapter Thirteen

“Sisters, it is hard for you to submit, period, even to a good man, in anything. It is submission itself that riles you….I will add, by way of encouragement that submission is simply not that hard on a day-to-day basis. My wife could tell a few stories where it was a struggle, but those incidents occurred over the course of thirty years! She would tell you that it has been far more a delight and a relief than ever it was a burden.”

What I love most about this book (besides John Ensor’s ever delightful prose) is the winsome and attractive way he presents God’s truth. How the Bible presents it, actually. All too often, we twist God’s gracious plan for marriage into a list of unappealing restrictions. We suck all the joy and beauty out of it and then try offering it to a watching world. No wonder they say, “no thank you!”

Submission is possibly the most misunderstood of all. We can view it as a burden, a punishment instead of a “delight” and a “relief.” But submission is the doorway to a joyful, enduring marriage and a host of God’s blessings.

If you are struggling with a dour or resentful view of submission, read this chapter, and then reread it until you have God’s perspective. Then take John Ensor’s pastoral advice and, “Set aside your fear and exercise faith in this matter.”