My Redeemer Lives

As we continue to spend some time meditating on the concept of trusting God, we arrive to the first half of Philippians 4: 5,

Let your gentleness be evident to all.

I have to admit that not only I have issues trusting God, but also, I am so NOT a gentle person…hence, I feel completely inadequate to write about either of these topics…hence…my total reliance upon the Holy Spirit.

When I think of gentleness, I think of many things and people, but today, as I look at my friend’s Bethanne’s photograph that I’m featuring on this post, I am reminded of one very special image of gentleness…the soft December breeze in my hometown.

Growing up in Chitré, a small city in the center of Panamá, I remember my favorite month of the year was December. It wasn’t only because of Christmas and presents…of course that was a huge part of it…but it also was because that’s when our summer vacation started. As a tropical country, Panamá only has two seasons: rainy and dry. December ushers in the dry season, and that’s when kids are off school. December was, therefore, a magical month for kids all around the country…and the magic was always introduced by the soft breeze from the north that announced fun was finally here.

I remember sitting in my bedroom with all the windows opened, listening to the rustle of the tree branches outside…no melody was more beautiful…

I remember going out to my childhood home’s yard which was populated by all kinds of fruit trees, just to close my eyes and feel the gentle caress of the breeze on my cheeks and my hair…like angels’ wings…

That breeze had such calming effect in my always frazzled soul…it was as if it spoke to me! And I long to hear and feel it again…

Sigh…

Like the beloved soft breeze of my youth, God speaks to us softly…not in the great winds, or fires or earthquakes of the world…but in gentle whispers (1 Kings 19: 11-13). Likewise, He wants us to act in gentleness, following His example.

Gentleness, however, is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 22-23). Therefore, it is not a virtue I or anyone else for that matter, can exhibit without the divine intervention of the Most Holy One in us. Here’s where trust comes in…as the Gardener of our souls, the Holy Spirit grows His fruits in us in His own time and manner…we trust in His work.

Looking at the picture above, I can almost feel the breeze in that scene…can’t you? I pray that the Holy Spirit who dwells in us may guide us, as we trust in His power, to make gentleness be evident in our lives to all we encounter on our path.