Can you imagine having a defender who is so powerful that you would never have to defend yourself against ALL personal attacks? Can you imagine having a defender that is so effective that even your worst enemies would become as worrisome as tiny gnats? What about a defender who freed you from fear so you were able to have compassion even on your attackers?
Believe it or not we have a great Defender who will do all these things!
But it is only through developing an attitude of complete meekness that allows us to step back so He can defend us before we botch the job. Seriously! Meekness is one of the GREAT Attitudes Christ commanded us to possess. We know it does not mean weakness. In fact, it was a prevalent characteristic of Moses, who was one of the most powerful leaders recorded in the history of the nation of Israel. He survived on the backside of the desert for 40 years. He single handedly fought off the shepherds at Midian who tried to steal water from the shepherdesses daughters of the priest. Moses led the Israelites out of the clutches of the mighty army of Egypt. He led a tribe of 2 million people in the desert until he was 120 years old.
This man Moses, who the Bible says was the meekest man upon the earth, was resilient and—certainly no weakling!
So when Moses’ siblings, Aaron and Miriam, staged a mutiny, Moses didn’t need to say a word in his own defense. His two older siblings were like, “Moses, dude, you’re not the only prophet. What makes you think you get to be in charge all the time?” [Seriously, that’s about the way it went down in Numbers Chapter 12.] 🥴 As the Bible recounts the story, in the middle, there is this amazing parenthetical statement:
“Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” Numbers 12:3
And what happened next is nothing short of extraordinary. Without Moses speaking a word in his own defense, God stepped in and confronted Miriam and Aaron. GOD defended Moses. He called the jealous siblings out. The Bible says:
“The Lord came down in the pillar of cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both went forward.” Numbers 12:5
First, God gave the sibs a stern lecture about why HE had chosen Moses to lead.
“Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you NOT afraid to speak against My servant Moses?” Numbers 12:6-8
In other words, God said: “Ya’ll may be prophets and hear Me in visions and dreams—but because Moses is such a humble man—I can speak with him face to face.” And then…God struck Miriam with leprosy.
And WHAT were Moses’ first words after the personal attack on his leadership?
He begged God to heal the person who had attacked him.
Wow! Don’t you want to be like Moses and not have to defend yourself??? And how did Moses learn to allow God to defend him against personal attacks without jumping in to defend himself first?
Well, it was a process.
Moses lived on the backside of a desert for 40 years before he learned that he needed to rest in the power of God. It was only then that he was ready to go toe-to-toe with Amenhotep II, the most powerful person on the face of the Earth, and have the confidence to warn him of each of the 10 plagues before they happened. It was only after becoming meek that Moses was ready to be trapped between the terror of the Egyptian army and the Red Sea and have faith to KNOW God would make a way of escape. His absolute dependence upon God (meekness) enabled him to KNOW God was in control and God would defend him.
My friend, meekness is NEVER weakness—rather it is a powerful gift.
AND—meekness is only revealed during trouble because people don’t sit around saying “let’s be meek today.” It is a response to confrontation. It is a response that rests in the power of God no matter what the outcome. Moses knew if Aaron and Miriam were supposed to be the leaders, God would make that happen; conversely, he rested in the fact that if he was supposed to be the leader, God would make that happen too.
Thus, he was free to make his first response—compassion—and ask God to heal Miriam.
Meekness is a gift that takes God out of the box that we often put Him in and allows His power and glory to shine in answering our enemies. A meek person knows that no scheme of man can alter God’s plan for their life. God CAN and WILL work all things for good. Thus, you have no need to defend yourself in the flesh. God will take care of it. [As a side note—meekness is not talking about forfeiting legal rights against criminal action because God provided for remedies for criminal actions in His Word. Rather, we’re talking about personal actions or reactions.]
David wrote,
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalms 27:1
We as Christians do not need to be hyper defensive about our place in the spotlight, our status, or our personal possessions. If we are, it shows we don’t believe in a Sovereign God we can trust to defend us. So we’ve got to take matters into our own hands and we miss the great joy of watching the miraculous defense of God.
The reason we never see God coming to our defense is because we’re too busy doing it ourselves.
Also, when we allow God to come to our defense, then after the dust settles, we still have our integrity intact. A meek Christian is able to genuinely forgive their enemies because when we see God fight our battles we plunge into the knowledge of His great mercy towards us. Thus, our forgiveness is not rooted in the flesh or emotions, but rather in the sovereignty and grace of God.
Meekness is not weakness; it is an attitude that allows us to respond to life based on the fact that we have a sovereign God. Meekness allows us to have a big view of God. It only comes from loving and obeying His Word and living in a strong awareness of our relationship with Him. It comes from spending time reading His Word and seeking to know His character. When we ask God to reveal who He is and show us His power and sovereignty over this world—the more meekness we have and we won’t even have to try to let Him be in charge because—it’s so obvious He should be!
My friend, we are constantly confronted with Miriams and Aarons, and so each day, we have the opportunity to practice this attitude of meekness and enjoy this amazing gift of protection from God!
