Meek but NOT Weak
It was 2 A.M. and I should have been writing a new scene to add to my story, but I wasn’t. I was deleting emails. Those precious hours that I sacrificed sleep for were wasted because I just couldn’t bully my way through anymore edits and I didn’t want to admit it.
Thankfully, God hit me over the head, said “Go to bed. We will talk in the morning.”
A Not So Quiet Time With God
As I have the tendency to do, I hit the floor running and didn’t stop until it was my planning period at school. I had this overwhelming need to just snuggle in with God in a big comfy chair (my imagination would have to do because, hello, school chairs?) and dig into His Word.
Thankfully, I had planned ahead and brought my Bible so I could verse map Matthew 11:29. As I tore the verse apart and looked at gentle in its original Greek, I came across something so powerful it had to be shared.
Gentle = Meek
The Biblical definition of gentle (Greek word praÿs) is mildness of disposition, gentleness of spirit, meekness. I am not one to stop at the end of a definition. If there is added text to expand on the meaning, I dig in, and BlueLetterBible.org expounded on meekness and revealed a stunning truth.
Meek Does NOT Mean Weak!
In fact, to be meek requires a great amount of maturity, a certain strength that can only be gleaned through complete reliance on God.
“Meekness toward God is that disposition of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting. In the OT, the meek are those wholly relying on God rather than their own strength to defend against injustice.Thus meekness toward evil people means knowing God is permitting the injuries they inflict, that He is using them to purify His elect, and that He will deliver His elect in His time (Isaias 41:17, Luke 18:1-8). Gentleness or meekness is the opposite to self-assertiveness and self-interest. It stems from trust in God’s goodness and control over the situation. The gentle person is not occupied with self at all. This is a work of the Holy Spirit, not of the human will (Galaltians 5:23).”
– BlueLetterBible.org
Did that hit you square between the eyes like it did me? Oh, my goodness. It still gives me chills. I just want to soak this up into my soul.
The Meek Are Not Weak
This, THIS is what I want my stories to communicate. I want characters who are learning to wholly rely on God rather than their own strength to defend against injustice. I want them to learn and believe that God is permitting the injuries of the evil to purify His chosen ones – His children – and that He WILL deliver them in His time. I want my characters to learn Meek Doesn’t Mean Weak.
Oh my goodness! My soul yearns for this. Screams for it. This is the message my God wants me to permeate through my writing, and what a magnificent message to magnify! All the stories of danger, hurt, calamity, and pain have a purpose, just like they do in real life. It is not comfortable. It hurts. We hate it.
But by being meek – trusting that God is good and in control of any given situation – we gain our greatest strength, Christ’s strength. To outsiders that may sound strange and it is even hard for mature Christians to wrap their head around, but it is true. Complete reliance on God – being meek – is not the same as being weak.
I want that sort of reliance on God. I want my characters to grow into that sort of reliance on Him. And I want, no, yearn for you, my beloved reader, to know God’s truth as well. His love is so powerful that even the evil of this world can be used for the purpose of drawing you closer to Him.
Meekness means having a relationship that cannot be broken by the worst of what the world has to offer. It is a strength that doesn’t lose faith.
I pray for you today, that you would let the words soak in, the truth of it to settle into the very depths of every broken part to bring strength, healing, and most importantly dependence on Christ.
Did those words hit home for you, too? Did you take something completely different away from it? I would love to hear your thoughts and to pray for any needs you have. Comment below or contact me on the contact tab of my website.
Blessings, friends. I look forward to hearing from you.