The Meek

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 

Mathew 5:5 (KJV)

 Jesus was saying that blessed are those who are humble, gentle and considerate. When Christ was on trial he was meek. He did not try and justify himself, because he was convinced that this was the path he had to take. Yet he bravely admitted that he was the King of the Jews. How many of us will be able to make a stand for our faith in Christ under such heavy pressure? He bravely faced the might of the most powerful nation of the day knowing fully well that he was staring straight at a death sentence. 

 Meekness is not a sign of weakness or cowardice but one of absolute trust in God’s control in all situations. Christ knew that it was God’s will that he would have to accept the verdict with courage. Nevertheless he knew that his fight was not against the people of that time. It was against the principalities and powers of darkness. It was against the very forces that held the keys to hell. It was a fight against death itself (Hebrews 2:14). It was a spiritual warfare of monstrous magnitude that was beyond human comprehension. It was a fight that even if the whole world united they could not take on by themselves. When Jesus resurrected on the third day he was victorious over death. 

 Meekness is to never to doubt the hand of God that is at work in all of creation. Job refused to believe his friends and wife when they told him that God had abandoned him. He stood fast to his faith. Even though he lost everything he still had the confidence to say that, “I know my redeemer lives.” To be confident that God does not let anything happen to us that he feels we cannot endure. It is to have the strength and courage to accept whatever happens in our lives as the will of God. To shift the focal point from our lives to God and His work for the furtherance of His kingdom. In the final analysis Job came out of period of suffering with a more profound understanding of God and more blessed than he had been in his earlier life. 

 Meekness is to be unsure of oneself, but sure of God's power. When God asked Moses to lead the people of Israel he was so unsure. Moses must have thought of the power and might of Pharaoh and of the Egyptian nation and wondered how he could come up against such a mighty force. When God assured him that he would go with him, to guide him and lead him he was strengthened and his confidence was renewed. In the eyes of God he was the right man for the job because of his absolute faith in the power of God. Once he agreed to do the task, he became an instrument through which God could bring freedom for the children of Israel from the Egyptian iron rule. Moses did not raise a sword against Pharaoh – it was God who waged the war. It was through the elements of nature and His creatures that God overcame Pharaoh and the might of the Egyptians. It was Moses’ willingness to surrender completely to God, and to be used by Him in the struggle for freedom from Egyptian rule. It was a long struggle, but through the grace of God Moses was able to overcome all obstacles and yet continue to be humble in the sight of men and God. 

 It is only when we come as clay to the potter’s house and ask to be molded into vessels for service in his kingdom, can God really start working on us (Ephesians 2:10). Until we are willing to come, it is hard for Him to use us. This is what it means to be meek, to be willing to be transformed into a new creation by God, to be willing to do his will under any circumstance. When I go back to visit the town I grew up in, the faces and many of the buildings are all new to me, but the sun, moon, starlit sky, mountains, hills, valleys, rivers and lakes are all the same. We have lost nothing but rejoice in all that the earth has to offer us. Meekness is refocusing our aspirations from those that the world values to those that God values; learning to enjoy God’s creation as opposed to man’s creation; realizing that people can take all that we own, but the mountains and valleys, the rivers and all of nature, will always be there.