1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian MEEKNESS | Page 11

Another very beautiful aspect associated with meekness is that of a CHEERFUL SPIRIT.
The story in our reading today is the story of Paul, as a prisoner, being taken to Rome to
stand before the emperor. On the way there, the ship on which they were travelling,
found itself in a terrible storm that went on for two weeks. The story is a dramatic one in
which the Roman soldiers, at one stage, tried to leave the ship in lifeboats, but Paul, who
was just a prisoner, exercised incredible power even when things looked like they were
out of control, and encouraged the soldiers to stay on the ship. We read, three times in
these two chapters, of Paul telling everyone to “be of good cheer” because God had told
him that they would all survive. After two weeks in the storm, land was sighted and Paul
instructed the captain to head straight for the land and to ground his ship. This the
captain did and the men were then all instructed to swim to land. Against great odds, all
two-hundred-and-seventy-six men on board survived this terrible ordeal. Don’t you
just love people like this?! People who are able to be cheerful even amidst the storms
of life? Someone who can bring light into a heavy situation and even humour into
something that might be depressing? Paul, I don’t think for a minute, was trying to be
funny, I think he was deadly serious when he was telling people to be of good cheer. He
had a secret that allowed him to see hope when everything looked hopeless, his secret,
we all know,would have been found in the fact of him believing implicitly in God’s
control over every situation of life. It was Paul himself who wrote those incredible words
in Romans 8 v 28 that say, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those
who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” When he said all things, he
meant, all things! In verse 37 of the same chapter, he speaks of the fact that no matter
how bad the situation in life is, we can all be conquerors through Him who loved us. He
goes on to tell us that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God; death
can’t, life can’t, angels can’t, demons can’t, neither the presence, nor the future can’t,
neither height nor depth nor any other power, will be able to separate us from God’s
love. It was this incredible hope that welled up within him, that evidenced through him,
the meekness to believe that we can be of good cheer simply because God is near.
Prayer Thought: As you go away from your prayer time today, won’t you take some good
cheer with you. Do not participate in negative conversations; do not criticise others; do not
condemn or complain; but take with you the aroma of cheerfulness to work, to school, or
to wherever you go today.

SUNDAY
John 19 v 28 – 30
The ultimate picture of things out of control would surely be those events that took
place around the crucifixion of Christ. Judas has betrayed Jesus; the disciples have all