The Gentle Divine

Nothing so strong as gentleness,

nothing so gentle as real strength.

St. Francis de Sales

Just sitting quietly in this for now.

Gentle God.

Walks in the garden in the evening to be with us (Genesis 3:8).

Meets the helpless, pregnant Hagar to make sure she knows she's seen (Genesis 16:7-12).

Presents Himself as a still, small voice (1 Kings 19:12).

Makes me lay down in green pastures (Psalm 23:2).

Knows I am 'but dust' but meets me there anyways (Psalm 103:14).

Likens Himself to a nursing mother (Isaiah 49:15).

Arrives as an infant (Luke 2:7).

Sparrows fall, and He knows (Matthew 10:29)

Welcomes children (Mark 10:14).

Writes in the dust instead of throwing stones (John 8:4).

Comes to be our Comforter (John 14:16).

Speaks Mary's name to calm her (John 20:16).

Invites Thomas to touch His wounds (John 20:27)

Lays His hand on John's shoulder so he knows it's Him (Revelation 1:17).

Yes, I am familiar with the parts of the Bible that show us God's anger.  Difficult texts need to be honestly approached, in context, with a responsible hermeneutic.  They're there.  I won't try to explain them here.  I don't pretend to understand them all.  And I won't apologize for them either.

But perhaps they do describe how one doesn't cancel out the other; gentleness and strength.

Some folks talk about times when God gave them a 'good swift kick in the pants' or a 'smack across the side of the head.'  I don't question other people's experience of God, so if that's what they needed, okay. 

But not me.  Never.  In my 64 years of following Jesus (I was 5 when I made my first decision), I have not experienced God as anything but tenderly, powerfully present.  He may not have answered all my prayers according to the specifics I can sometimes quite audacious lay out to Him.  But He's always been there, holding me.  Always.

It's the kind of gentleness that makes me want to grow into it.  To be for others the gentleness I have received myself.

Hope you have a gentle kind of Tuesday.

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Don't know who might need this today.  I'm just working through preparations to teach Colossians 3:12-17 to the kids at Hot Springs next month, and these are the sorts of meditations that help provide the background work in my own soul first. 

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved,

clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness,

humility, gentleness and patience.

Colossians 3:12

The bloom pictured above, with the delicate filaments all stretched out from a long tall stem, is called a 'blazing star.'  Seemed a perfect illustration of the dichotomous balance between gentleness and strength.  In the storm that ripped through our neighbourhood on August 8th, taking down large trees in nearby Victoria Park, this plant remained unbroken.