Walk This Way (2)

Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, exhort you to walk worthily of the calling in which you were called, with all humility and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love; being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1

Trained To Serve – “Meekness” is the Greek word praotes. It means power domesticated. It is about an inner spirit of control that is exhibited in calm assurance. It is not about wallflower withdrawal. It is about a deep and abiding sense of inner freedom knowing that what could be done need not be done unless it must be done. Meekness is deserving your rights and deliberately choosing to forego them. In other words, someone who is meek is someone who recognizes and submits to the sovereignty of God. This person accepts what God does and considers it done for God’s good purposes.

However (and it’s a big “however”), this does not mean that a meek person is passive. Hardly! Meekness demonstrates itself in wrath toward sin, as we see in the life of the meek Yeshua. It is actively angry at evil but ready to act only at God’s command. There is nothing weak about being meek.

Paul exhorts us to walk in meekness. Actually, he says with all meekness. In other words, in as much praotes as possible. What does that look like today? Just imagine what your life would look like if you operated according to the completely confident assurance that God is doing through you exactly what He wishes and needs to do in order to accomplish His plans. Imagine how you would handle your everyday events if you lived with the constant awareness that what comes into your life is all hand-delivered by the Almighty. Would that change the way you see things? Would you find reason to be thankful, even joyful, knowing that “all these things work together for the good of God’s purposes?” Would your life exhibit a quiet serenity if you fully embraced God’s intimate grace over your every choice and circumstance?

Paul calls us to a much higher view of God’s involvement. He asks us to deliberately deliberate on God’s imminent care, on His moment-to-moment engineering of our lives so that we have every golden opportunity to express His character. Meekness is not hiding in the shadows. Meekness is the supremely capable power of El Shaddai (for whom nothing is too difficult) waiting to be used when He calls. Meekness is that character attribute that comes when we are fully trained, ready to have Him use us whenever and for whatever. In Hebrew, hineni. “Here I am.” Use me.

How’s your training regimen going today? Are you settling into full meekness?

Topical Index: meekness, praotes, power, Ephesians 4:1