Being Happy in an Unhappy WorldNäide

Happy are the meek. Does that sound absurd? In our hardball society, meekness is considered a liability, not an asset. We’ve all heard the gospel according to Leo Durocher: Nice guys finish last.

Our society believes the way to inherit is to be mean as a junkyard dog.

“Blessed are the meek”? Remember to whom Jesus is speaking when He tells us, “The meek…will inherit the earth.” At this point, the Jews are living under severe political oppression. Since 63 B.C. they have lived under a series of brutal rulers appointed by Rome.

A man in the crowd throws up his hands and says to his friends, “Can you believe this guy? Get serious!

You don’t conquer Romans with meekness. You don’t come to a cold-blooded killer like Herod with hat in hand. Happy are the meek? Nonsense! Might makes right! Meekness is weakness!”

Consider Moses, the Old Testament’s champion of meekness. The Bible says, “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3, NIV).

Paul instructed Timothy to pursue meekness (1 Timothy 6:11). That meant that Timothy was to pursue meekness. He was not to rest until he had enriched his character with this priceless virtue.

Paul was meek. But was he weak? When on the Isle of Malta, he shook a deadly viper from his wrist as men gasped in wonder. When dragged into court, he glared at his persecutors and said, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall!” (Acts 23:3, NIV).

Consider Christ Jesus our Lord, Who said, “Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29, KJV). See the Son of God as He invades the temple with a whip of cords, His eyes blazing with righteous indignation: “‘It is written,’ he said to them, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers’” (Matthew 21:13, NIV).

Hear Him rebuke the Pharisees: “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (Matthew 23:33, NIV). He is meek. But He is anything but weak.

You can be meek as well. Believe and receive the power of the Holy Spirit, a power greater than any in the world, and exercise it over all challenges.