Greetings!

I hope you are doing well…holding firmly to God and faith in these differently difficult times. The sky on the outside is a beautiful blue with thin clouds scattered here and there, while the sun is at her brilliant best, without being overbearing – if you get my meaning. There is however, a definite stillness in the air. I am not sure if it has anything to do with the forecast tropical depression/storm [with a name we know too well] moving through the region as I write, or whether it is just one of those pastel hued days, painted by the Divine Artist, on creation’s expansive canvas, for which we ought to raise a thankful hallelujah. What I am sure of however, especially following Saturday’s earthquake, which wreaked havoc upon neighboring Haiti [once again] and made us realize here in Jamaica, just how fragile and in many ways un-prepared we are, is the fact that our world…life as we have come to know it, is at best fleeting!

Yesterday, I had the blessed privilege of sharing the message during the morning service, at my home congregation, in St. Thomas. So much of what transpired on the weekend, but especially my reading of sections of 1 Kings, chapters 2 and 3, spoke to me as I prepared it. What remains clear is that wisdom is a characteristic we all as humans need to internalize; it is an indispensable tool for navigating life’s pathways, particularly in times like these. An imperative of that characteristic is an attitude or disposition that, having two different sides, can be construed as being in opposition to, but is in fact inextricably linked. Many have tried to circumnavigate or create reasons [never mind their implausibility] to justify its non-inclusion as a unit, on their priority list and yet, without it, making real, lasting progress, along the journey towards the goal of life more abundant, is virtually impossible.  I am referring to the imperative of Confident-Humility!

Here is a two-pronged obligatory which must be held in balance, with knowing whose and who you are…in that order. It is the evolving revelation of the truth that one is able to give of one’s best, whether or not there is external acknowledgement or affirmation. On the one hand there is the Humility that comes with knowing Almighty God, whose infinite ways are beyond human imagining, deigns to have relationship with and so lovingly pursues, in an effort to enfold us, within His infinite being. The chorus of an old Gospel song comes readily to mind…

Who am I that a King should bleed and die for?

Who am I that He should pray, not my will Thine for.

The answer I may never know,

Why He ever loved me so;

That to an old rugged cross He’s go,

Who am I?

But there is also Confidence…which springs from the knowledge that divine enabling drives, gives meaning to and ultimately directs us towards all that is possible, for our blessing and God’s glory. So, as the apostle Paul would say… “What then should we say about these things?”

I am convinced that Confident-Humility is not an oxymoron but a God inspired way of being we all need to accept and embrace. I believe it was the characteristic of wisdom upheld by this two-pronged imperative, with all that it connotes, which fueled their energy, providing uncommon abilities to our ancestors, to face and overcome challenges that were meant to obliterate them. Today, standing upon their shoulders, we must face our present realities by drawing upon the extraordinary legacy of the past and so set our face towards the future…with hope.

St. Paul sums it up best in his letter to Timothy [2 Timothy 1:7] when he declared, and I like how The Voice translation renders it…

‘You see, God did not give us a cowardly spirit but a powerful, loving and disciplined spirit.’

Well, that’s it for this week! There’s a whole lot brewing, of disasters, real and imagined; but with Confident-Humility, we can…we will continue to remain safe and well…in His grip.

Grace+