1 Do not fret because of those who are evil
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 Take delight 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 righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the Lord
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people 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.
9 For those who are evil will be destroyed,
but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.
Psalm 37
The Lord has been speaking to me about "fretting" of late.
Definitely fretting DOES lead to harm, as the Word says in verse 8.
What does it mean to fret? [probably I'm an expert!].
The dictionary puts it as: "Being constantly or visibly anxious".
I have to admit to the above. So many issues have been tugging at me, gnawing away at my trust in Jesus.
It's plain to see that the antidote to fretting is trusting in the Lord - but how to do this?
Answer:
Trust - don't give up doing good... do something positive for someone.. verse 3
Pray about the things upsetting me [commit your way to the Lord verse 5]
Wait for the answer - that means shutting my mouth and being still in Jesus' Presence [oh so hard to do when in a frazzle of fretting] verse 7
Don't be deceived by what I "see" - wicked people will succeed for a time verse 7 - but their fate is sealed verse 9
Ok, I've written all this down, but, unless I take it to my heart, moment by moment, hour by hour - it won't do me any good.
James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
Father God, I freely admit my "fretting" and am not proud of it. Please return me to the childlike trust in You, as I wait before you and absorb Your precious promises.
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