Original devotional written for a Taylor University dorm's family email.
Sometimes I scoff at gentleness, because it reminds me of being docile when I want to be fierce.
Like Éowyn in the Lord of the Rings, I want to pick up a sword and yell “I AM NO MAN!” as I fight to protect those I love.
I want to be Jael (Judges 4) when she stabs a tent peg through a sleeping enemy’s forehead (well, maybe not that fierce…).
Caption: Flowering tree on Taylor University's campus.
There is a time for that bold love, but… I think I misunderstand gentleness when I believe that it is fragile and weak.
I’m reminded of Abigail in 1 Samuel 25. In gentle boldness, (1 Samuel 25:23-31) she convinces David to spare her husband and her husband’s men. She could have been killed by David, but she went fearlessly. She could have insulted David like her husband did, but she was wise. She could have run in the other direction, but she went and with gentleness she saved her people.
I see gentleness in a flower cracking through pavement to grow.
I see gentleness in hugging a sobbing friend; offering a tender, but fierce hope that God is good, and all will be right one day.
Now, I see gentleness as a powerful kind of fierceness.
As God is gentle with us, we are to be gentle with others.
“He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” - Psalms 18:16-19 NIV