The Meek

Some pools, even when banked up with stones, soon run dry and show their bottom. A river takes in every stone thrown into it and flows on, unshaken. Stephen preached the gospel in the synagogue and was stoned to death, yet as he died he prayed that those killing him would be forgiven.

Meekness is not a matter of earning a reputation as a nice person. It means enduring hardship rather than running from it, with a heart as wide as a river and a faith that does not waver. Those who are tossed about by their feelings are easily hurt and hard for God to use as his instruments. A person of good character, however, is not simply holding back a hot temper; such a person is not shaken in the first place. Saul, who had rejoiced at Stephen’s death, was later called in answer to that very prayer and became an apostle who strove to be like Stephen.

It was neither the temple nor social standing that enlarged the borders, but a life that preached the gospel unaltered even in the face of death. Just as the believers scattered by Stephen’s death planted churches wherever they went, the meek inherit the earth. A patient life that delivers the Word just as it is, without mixing in its own thoughts and feelings: that is what the meek look like.