Have you ever wondered, "Just what is meekness?"
Terms like "humbleness," "gentleness," "quiet in spirit," describe the emotion of meekness. Moses is described as being the meekest of all men. Moses was a strong leader of God's people. Through confrontations and struggles, he exhibited a meek temperament in his decisions.
The reference to Moses and him being meek appears in Numbers 16, and it relates to Moses and the way he handled confrontation: "And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord? And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face."
When the congregation, or individual members of the congregation, aggressively confronted Moses with demands or accusations he did not verbally strike back in the force of the authority of his rank. Instead he "fell on his face," which is to say, he prayed.
The man Moses was very meek, above all the men who were upon the face of the earth. You can now see why it is adequate when meek is defined as, "Gentle, kind, not easily provoked, ready to yield rather than cause trouble."
Moses is still leading us today. His character and example has left us with a very special and valuable insight into a precious teaching.
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth," Matthew 5:5.
If we want to be among the "they" of that teaching, we need to be among the meek. We need to be among those who respond to aggressive confrontation in the way Moses did, namely, by not being easily provoked, being ready to yield but taking the whole issue to the Lord in prayer.
Pray for your actions and ask for guidance in decisions. Let your sweet reasonableness, your forbearance, your meek spirit become known to all men. You can be among the meek of the Earth.
Donna Avera is a Rincon resident. Her e-mail is email@example.com.