Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Reportedly, some time in the 1600s a phrase that was later adapted in the 1800s came to popularity. This phrase still impacts our culture today: “where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
This phrase encourages the hearer that if they want something, then they should engage their will to make it happen. This catchy phrase resonates with us as the contrast has proven true in our lives most times: if you do not engage in life, nothing will happen.
There is some truth to this statement, but it also feeds into the humanistic, self-reliant society in which we now find ourselves in. It’s easy to allow self-reliance and dependence upon our own strength to become the default for response in our lives. When a problem or opposition arrives, we dig in our heels and try really hard. After all, “if there’s a will, there’s a way.” This is a promise of 400 years of human experience and legacy.
Beware of catchy phrases. Just because they alliterate, rhyme, or hold popularity, it does not mean they are true.
In Matthew 5, Jesus presents a strong invitation to meekness. Meekness, according to scholars, refers to a posture of smallness. The meek choose to set aside their strength to favor others. The meek do not aggressively pursue their own rights. The meek display a humility that puts others first.
The mistake that one may make in interacting with someone meek, or the mistake that one may make in choosing meekness is to think that to be meek, one must be weak. One the contrary, the meekest people are the strongest people because the strength they set aside equates to a larger sacrifice. How difficult is it for someone with no strength to set aside their strength? Invite the man in the desert to turn over his empty cup for another, and he will not hesitate. The sacrifice of the man in the desert whose cup is full requires much more sacrifice for the same action.
The kingdoms of man are established by brute strength, manipulation, and the self-assertive. This is not so with the Kingdom of God. Those who choose to set aside their strength and self-protection; those who choose to be small so that they can serve others; these inherit the Kingdom of God. This is a promise of the Creator of humanity and legacy.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to lay down the fight. Perhaps you have been fighting for a long time for the thing that you want to see. Maybe God is waiting for you to stop working out of your strength so that He can work out of His. Perhaps out of a desire to be meek you have fallen into a counterfeit place of apathy and God wants you to ask, “Lord, what would you have me do?” Perhaps today God would have you concern yourself with the rights of another.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.
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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 98, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 5:3–9) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).