Let your gentleness show in your treatment of all people. The Lord is near. ~ Philippians 4:5 (CEB)
God, your ways seem so contrary to how we believe things need to be done. The people who come out ahead in this world are tough and strong -- looking out for their own self-interests. But you want us to pour our energy into helping those in need. You think that we should get reputations for being gentle instead of tough. That's going to be hard. And I'm afraid of hard. I am so ready to do the easy thing. But I'm going to trust you to bring fruit out of these counter-cultural activities. Knowing that you are close by gives me confidence to shine your light into a dark and crazy world. Amen.