Ephesians 5:24

Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
(NIV)

No one doubts the role of the church. The church is clearly to submit to Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior, but this command is very clear concerning wives. They are to submit to the husband. In fact, they are to submit to him in the same way as the church submits to Christ. There is no other option, no other loop-hole command.

When the husband is fulfilling His role, which will come up in the next few verses, this task becomes much easier. The challenge comes when there is a husband who is not fulfilling his role. The woman must not presume upon herself though; if she truly desires God to work in the heart of her husband, if she wants that husband to fulfill his godly role as a husband, then she must start with herself.

What does this look like? A wife must submit to the authority of her husband in all things. The only exceptions would be if the husband is asking her to do things that would not please God, because as the apostles put it, "... we ought to obey God rather than men." Also if there is a true threat of physical harm to either the wife or her children, this would constitute fleeing the situation, but not divorce. In both of these extreme situations, if the wife can still submit in whatever ways that she can, this attitude may yet win her husband.

I Peter 3:1 states,
"Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives..."

God's plan is always the best plan. Begin trusting Him today, not just in word, but in daily life.