2/17/17 Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

Julie:
Someone once told me that in marriage, when judgement day comes, I will be judged on the kind of wife I am called to be. God will look over our life together and judge me on how well I submitted to Nick. God has asked me to submit to Nick as the church submits to Christ (Eph 5:24). I am called to be subject to Nick, which means I am to follow his leadership (1 Peter 3:1). Sometimes this feels absolutely impossible. Especially when he is leading me into a pit of disaster. But this same person who once told me that I was going to be judged for submitting to Nick, also told me that Nick too would have his judgement day. But he will be judged on how well he listened to God and what kind of shepherd he was for our family. With the title of being a man of God, head of household, and leader of our family, also comes the responsibility of making Godly and prayerful decisions for our family. It is very difficult to submit to Nick when he blindly walks us into quicksand that I see a mile away. But when I die, I am not going to be judged on how safe I kept our family. That's Nick's job to watch over his small flock. My role is to submit. Just like it is Trent's job to submit to us. Just like it is our job as Ignite to submit to our leaders with Pottersfield. God ordained them to be our leaders, so when we complain about them, we are really complaing about God's work in our lives. Just like when the Isrealites complained to Moses and Aaron about being hungry in the wilderness and they said "...what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord." (Ex 16:8). So next time that we complain about a decision Austin or Pastor Mike or the RA's make, we need to first remember that they will be judged for the decision, not us. Even if it has to do with something as big as changing the world or something as pointless as painting a muddy wall white. All we are to do to for our authority is submit. We must remember that they are our authority by God's decision, thus their decisions for our life are God's decisions for our life. Even if our leaders, who seek God's heart anyway, make a wrong decision for our lives, we can rest assure that God will honor us for our submission to it. What a weight lifted off of my shoulders to realize that I'm not the shepherd but the sheep. As humbling as it is though, it is the lot I was cast for now and I trust the Lord's decision in that, so I will continue to honor my leaders and husband because if judgement day comes tomorrow, I want God to say "Well done".