written by Connie Dunmyer
I come from a long line of worriers . . . of fretters. And I think it still continues generationally. Worrying is a natural human reaction. But of course the Bible gives us some 365 scriptures that say “don’t worry” or “don’t fret”, etc. . . yes, at least one for every day of the year.
Psalm 37: 1 Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; 2 for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. 3 Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. 8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret — it leads only to evil.
Definition of Fret =
“To be constantly or visibly worried or anxious.” And also
“Gradually wear away (something) by rubbing or gnawing – erode. Wear down. Eat away.”
God isn’t telling us to “not fret” because there is “nothing to worry about”. He is telling us don't fret "because it will kill us". It will destroy us. We will literally eat away all love, joy, peace, good thoughts, relationships, and yes, even our faith.
As we read Psalm 37, it says even if someone is doing something evil – actual evil against you – don’t worry. INSTEAD make the choice to “trust in the Lord” . . . and “do good”. Whoa! Wait a sec. So rather than sit and wring my hands and think about all the things that are going bad, and what could happen . . . I need to not only “say” I trust God to handle it – but then I need to put action to my trust and DO GOOD! Hmmm. . . let’s continue . . .
“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” Ok – now this is getting a tad too personal. You mean I shouldn’t be whining and complaining to God, or to everyone else who will listen? Rather “wait patiently”? I don’t know about you, but I really hate the “P” word (patience) almost as much as I hate the “D” word (discipline). And yet here we are. God has given us a roadmap. Handles to use so that we “do not fret”, “do not worry”, “do not eat ourselves alive”. No wonder verse 8 says that fretting “only leads to evil”. So lineage or not, generational or not, we very human beings have got to figure out a way to stopping worrying.
Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
So here we are told that we have a CHOICE!! We don’t have to simply fall into old or learned patterns. We don’t HAVE do the natural thing – the very human thing. Instead, we can become “transformed” by the renewing of our minds. We do NOT have to worry or fret. It is a CHOICE.
When a difficulty enters our brains, we can choose to think about other things. Perhaps these things we find in Philippians 4:8: things that are True, things that are Noble, things that are Right, things that are Pure, things that are Lovely, things that are Admirable, anything Excellent or Praiseworthy! I have a feeling if I’m thinking about all those good things, I will find it easy to “do good”, to “be still”, and to “wait patiently for God”.
As I was in my quiet time today, I heard Jeremy Camp’s song: “Out of My Hands”. And it just fit with how I have been feeling lately. Here are some of the words that struck me:
“So when it feels like all of this pain is never gonna end
Brought to my knees by all of these things I don't understand, don't understand
I will let the weight of my fear fall like sand
Out of my hands and into Yours, out of my hands and into Yours.”
We need to let go of the things that are weighing us down. We need to CHOOSE to rid ourselves of worry, fretting, & fear. It’s eating us up and that’s nothing but evil. God has a better plan. So I challenge myself - this day - to stop eating myself. It's not a metaphor. It's real. And we have a choice.