Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Phil. 4:5
Dear Lord Jesus, no one is more gentle with us than you. No one is as welcoming of sinners, as kind to the broken hearted, or as understanding of the struggling as you. You’re gentle, yet firm; gentle, yet so very powerful. Bruised reeds and smoldering wicks love your appearing (Matt. 12:20). The weary and heavy burdened find solace in you (Matt. 11:28).
You’re the perfect surgeon—the one we want working on us. You never get flustered, agitated, or hurried. You have a steady hand because of your steady heart. Come, Lord Jesus, do a grace work in our hearts. Gentle us, gentle me. May your gentleness be evident to all, wherever you place us. Relax our rigid hearts. Take the edge off our edge. Free us from needing to be in control of people and circumstances.
Gentle me when I face both fair and unfair criticism. Gentle me when winning an argument becomes more important than loving well. Gentle me when I’m behind slow drivers who stay in the fast lane. Gentle me when someone eats the piece of pie I hid in the back of the refrigerator. Gentle me when a vacation gets cut short by crises. Gentle me when I find a new ding in my car door. Gentle me when I want to run away, and yet I know you’re telling me to be still, wait and trust you.
Gentle me when friends keep making the same mistakes and foolish choices. Gentle me when I need a nap but my world wants to dance. Gentle me when I’m sure I’m really right, and equally sure my spouse is really wrong. Gentle me when the restaurant sends me home with the wrong takeout order. Gentle me when Satan starts condemning me for things I actually did, but things for which you’ve already paid my debt.
Gentle me when I cannot fix the very people you never gave me to fix. Gentle me when there’s more month left over at the end of the check. Gentle me when I hear bad theology and want to “take somebody out.” Gentle me when I’m awaiting an overdue biopsy report. Gentle me when I cannot make things right that went so wrong.
Jesus, because of your nearness to us in the gospel; because you actually live in our hearts; because we’ve never been closer to your blessed return… gentle us. May your gentleness be increasingly evident to all. So very Amen we pray in your kind and loving name.
