HAPPY ARE THE ADAPTABLE

  Yes, I'm beginning to like this word meekness. And I wonder if it stretches the meaning too far to think of a meek person as someone bendable, adaptable to God and life. Yes, I think it fits... and I think I need more meekness in my own life. So many things are changing today... our way of life, our values, our children, our institutions. I want to be able to shift gears easily... to understand and appreciate what is going on around me... to help wherever possible. So I can't be rigid. I must be bendable... strong enough on the inside to adapt on the outside. In other words, I must be meek in order to meet tomorrow.

  Adaptable... that's a word I really like. Happy are the adaptable... it makes a lot of sense in our world. I certainly need to be adaptable. It's not only my world that is changing... my home is too, constantly. The only sure thing about my schedule for any given day is that it will change.

  How many times I've started a day thinking, Ah, a quiet one at last! Only to end up with unexpected guests for lunch or dinner, or a church group of fifty for a dessert meeting I forgot to put on my calendar. At those times it helps to be able to shift gears easily and noiselessly.

  Adaptability is something I've had to learn over the years, and I think God has used the circumstances of my life to make me more flixible. It wasn't easy for me during the early years of our marriage. I wanted so much to please, but it was hard for me to adjust to unexpected guests and interrupted plans for the day. What a good thing it is that God created us with a built-in ability to change.

  The unhappy people are the ones who feel threatened by the changes going on around them. They look to traditions and institutions to give them a sense of security. Newness frightens them, they become rigid and in their presence there is no peace. But there are others who haven't hardened. Feeling the flow of life, they move in rhythm with it. Their trust in Christ is so real, and the security He gives them is so strong, that they cannot be threatened by change. They realize that newness is inherent in life, that if they themselves are going to expand and grow, they too, must change. But they aren't dominated by change - they are free to evaluate it, to reject or accept it, according to its merits. These are the meek people of the world, and when I am with them I sense peace. With God's help, I want to be more like them. AUTHOR: Colleen Townsend Evans

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