Either by circumstances or by choices…

One of the clear examples in the Bible when somebody hurts you be an actor not a reactor is Moses.  In Numbers 12 he was being criticized and insulted and put down.  The issue was that he married a black lady, Zipporah was from Ethiopia.  It was an interracial marriage and Moses’ brother and sister didn’t like it.  They were griping.  But Moses refused to defend himself. He said, “GOD, I’m going to let YOU take care of this.”  

GOD always has better ways of getting even than we do.  GOD said to Miriam, Moses’ sister, “You like white skin?  How about a lot of it?” and HE gave her leprosy.  Moses did not say a word.  He would not retaliate. 

GOD says be an actor not a reactor in how we respond to life.  Meekness is the ability to handle a hurt without retaliating.

Now the best definition of meekness in the Bible is Proverbs 16.32 (CEV), “Controlling your temper is better than being a hero who captures a city.”

So what determines your emotions?  Can you control your own emotions or does somebody else?  Your emotions are either controlled by circumstances or by character.  It's your choice. 

“That makes me so mad... so sad... feel so bad...”  Circumstances are controlling how you feel.  I choose to feel happy.  I choose to not be depressed.  Happiness is a choice.  You’re emotions are either controlled by circumstances or by choices.  Meek people are self-controlled, controlling their reactions toward life. 

JESUS promised, “Happy are the people who can control their reactions, for they will inherit the earth.”  What does “inherit the earth” mean?  You’ll be in control of your situation.  The world is yours.  The person who has self-control of his emotions the world is his.  He controls the situation because he’s not controlled by it.  If you are a meek person, you are no longer a victim. You control your choices.

Victor Frankl, the famous psychiatrist, went through Auchwitz. He said, “They took my clothes, my wife, my kids, my wedding ring. I stood naked before the SS and I realized they can take everything in my life but they cannot take my freedom to choose how I will respond to them.”  That is a freedom you will always have.  How do I react?  How do I choose to react to those people who hurt me? 

Just a thought from the front porch…