Meekness, maggots, and inheriting the earth

As Jesus proclaimed in his Sermon on the Mount ‘Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth!’ (Mathew 5: 5). But how does this work in practice as, at first glance, it does not sound at all plausible?

Most of the time I get up early enough to pray and meditate on scripture. Today, due to my being confused about diary commitments, I realised I had an extra half an hour for this routine. What should I do though? Pray and meditate more, or clean out our rubbish bin which, when we got back from holiday, we discovered was teeming with maggots and smelt disgusting. Now, I know my wife can handle bad smells as well as the next person, but she finds maggots utterly repulsive. Nevertheless, she would have seen this as her job today, given it needed to be done and I would have been busy at work. So, if I hadn’t cleaned the bin out, she would have been none the wiser and I would not have been in her ‘bad books’! But, inevitably perhaps, the Holy Spirit prompted me, whispering in a usual still, quiet voice: “Don’t pretend you are Holier than thou by spending the extra time praying, show your wife you love her by being meek in serving her, and clean out the bin!’

Despite a few inner objections, I obeyed, and as I cleaned the bin very thoroughly I also prayed a bit along the way, and then I inherited the earth! How come? First, before going to work, I told my wife what I did (without being a martyr about it of course!), and her reaction was wonderful - a big smile and a hug, which told me, loud and clear, I did the right thing. Second, after leaving the house, I did take some more time praying as I was driving to work, and I felt, more than usual, so empowered and ready for the day. Why? I discovered afresh that acting out my faith in love and service is precisely where God wants me in prayer and throughout my life and work (James 2:17) – that prayer is about us encountering God in our listening, in our words and meditations certainly, but also in our meek and loving service to him (and to others), including doing the jobs that others don’t want to do! And, that in the process of this kind of embodied prayerfulness, I inherit the earth, because the Kingdom of God within me (Luke 17:21), finds it rightful place on earth, and as I receive God’s blessings through those I serve.

P.S. I am not always as good as this!

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