Matthew 5:5
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Devotion:
Some translations use the world meek, some use the word humble, some use the word gentle. However your translation states it, Jesus is pointing to a specific character trait. The word meek, gentle, or humble here means that the believers are not taking something by force. Rather, they can rely of their God to show up and win battles.
Jesus is saying that those who rely on Him in faith to fight their battles will be blessed. He continues to say that these people will be the ones who inherit the earth. It seemed pretty counter intuitive then and definitely feels counter intuitive now. Our future draws attention to people who are loud, dominant, demanding, people who take what they want. I’m sure you can think of big personalities we see on our screens everyday who are famous for this “go getter” attitude.
However, do we want to be known for trying to take control into our own hands and taking what we think we need, or do we want to be known for our faith in the Lord to have control of our lives, to meet every need of ours before we even know what we need? I don’t know about you, but every time I try to be in control of my life and cut God out of the equation I quickly spiral and fail. I don’t want to do life my way anymore. Rather, I serve a God who feeds the birds and dresses the flowers, when they can’t even ask (Matthew 6:26-34).
I don’t need to be in control because my God knows what I need and meets those needs. I know it’s hard to stay faithful, patient, and confident in the Lord when we don’t see the big picture. Our God is the King of the earth. There is nothing that is outside of His control or abilities. The true “win” is to stay steadfast in our faith because He sees the big picture. We can cling to the truth in knowing we belong to the Lord and we will inherit eternal peace with Him. Jesus reminds us to keep our eyes fixed on Him and His big picture.