Bold Yet Meek… Good morning Hump Day readers. The devotion I was going to use today got usurped by the Holy Spirit, who does that often and I’ve learned to listen otherwise she will nudge me until I listen to her! I am thankful for the Spirit’s nudging (most of the time anyway.)

Al and I love the Olympics. For 50 years of marriage I don’t think we’ve missed any of them. The challenge for these young and old is mind-boggling. Their tenacity and hard work in what they do is more than amazing. What really gets me, though, is their meek and humbleness. Yes, some are loud and out-spoken, but for the most of them they are delighted to be there and they put everything on the line. Watching the pole vault last night with a 24 age young  man—who is American and Swedish—took my breath away. He had a last opportunity to set a world record and he did—20ft 6 inches high! What I loved about him was his meekness, his words to his fellow jumpers with kindness, and so much more. Then, watching the video his parents showed from 5 years old to now showed a family of love, tenacity, and yet a beautiful countenance of care and humbleness. Then the gymnastics…when Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles gave a bow of honor to Rebeca Andrade who took the gold made me cry with joy. What a beautiful and humbleness of sportsmanship which we rarely see. They knew Andrade had worked long and hard to get a gold medal for Brazil and they were happy she did!

In our society today, meekness is overlooked—even disregarded—and being humble, well now you are a ‘nothing’. From the political arena meekness and humbleness means you’re a toad-stool; in high-school, kids who are meek are bullied and laughed at; or worse, when someone laughs at the janitor or the waitress, etc., calling them inferior. My sister-in-law works with Special Olympics. She has told me many times how these kids get pushed down and laughed at—until they get their gold medal! God knows those who need the blessings.

Why is it that we feel only the strong, the rich, the good-looking, etc., are what the world needs? Remember Olga Korbut from the Soviet Union? She was laughed at being a skinny little kid from Russia but then their eyes popped wide-open when she stepped into the world of gymnastics and changed the sport forever. She remained her meek and humble self with that sweet smile that captured us all.

For those of us who are Christ-followers, we need to remember what meekness means. It is the only way we can combat the nay-sayers’ awful words and actions. Yet, when you bring up the word ‘meekness’ most of us struggle to define it. So here’s one of the best from A.W. Tozer on what meekness means…read it several times, it is beyond powerful…

“The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God’s estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God declared him to be, but paradoxically he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels. In himself nothing; in God everything. That is his motto.”

In Matthew 5:5, Jesus only needed one sentence to let us know the power of the week: “Blessed are the meek and gentle—they will inherit the earth.”  [Voice Translation]

Those who are meek do NOT have an inferiority complex. In fact, they are quite the opposite! They believe their meekness creates boldness and strength and well that it causes them to humbly understand one of the most important things: everything good in them comes ONLY from God, not themselves.

In closing, we need to remember that short sentence Jesus said from Matthew 5:5 and take those words to heart. Why? Because Jesus gave the promise to inherit the earth to only one group of people: the meek. Let’s live our lives the way God wants us to—to be bold and strong in our faith right alongside of being meek, humble, quiet and caring. For in our meekness, we feel the touch of God and the reward of living this way will produce incredible blessings for us and it impacts the way-too-angry world we live in! AMEN.