July 8: Insight Post by Rusty Coram
Wednesday Insight Post
by Rusty Coram
Submission is looked at by many (probably most) of us as a weak and uninviting position to be in, much less an attitude to aspire to, yet that is what God calls those of us who trust Him to do. When done rightly, it opens the door for experiencing a deep and fulfilling relationship with God and creating the kind of human relationships we were designed to experience in His church. The idea behind the word “submit” is to voluntarily yield the right of way to another. I experienced a picture of this a couple of weeks ago when I was part of a wedding near Chesapeake Beach, MD. During the drive, I came across several roundabouts. The DOT describes a roundabout like this, “...a circular intersection where drivers travel counterclockwise around a center island. There are no traffic signals or stop signs in a modern roundabout. Drivers yield at entry to traffic in the roundabout, then enter the intersection and exit at their desired street. Studies by the Federal Highway Administration have found that roundabouts can increase traffic capacity by 30 percent to 50 percent compared to traditional intersections.” It is intriguing that these traffic circles work! I’ve been through many all over the country and never witnessed an accident. Wouldn’t it be great if we could adopt this same ability to “yield” in our relationship with God and others? It would require humility on our part and a willingness to trust God to meet our needs rather than demanding our own way and personal “rights”. With this in mind, take a few moments and meditate (a discipline we focused on earlier in our Bible Reading Plan for 2026) on our passage in Philippians:
3“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form...”
Philippians 2:3–7 (NLT)
Rusty Coram
Senior Pastor
New Hope Church
Lorton, Virginia
www.newhope.org