I have gone from cringing at the word “submission” to realizing that submission to God is one of the most powerful spiritual principles there is! Submitting to God is like getting on my knees to crawl into a tiny box. It feels confining, but then I realize that the inside of the box is larger than the outside of the box!  After humbling myself, I find that God has brought me into “a spacious place” that wide and free. I find that I have submitted my darkness to His sunshine; I have submitted my foolishness to His wisdom. (Apparently, someone had been lying to me!)
When I let my self-will stand up, I think I am protecting myself, but actually I am walling myself in, creating a dungeon that will become my tomb. All of the awesome goodness of God is on the other side of my raised-up, unsubmitted self-will. When I lower the walls of my self-will by submitting to God, I am letting down the walls of my dungeon, like lowering a drawbridge.  And now I see that I had walled out the One I most desired, the Lover of my soul.