Fret Not

Some of you may have heard this recently, but I’d like to expound on a challenge/testimony I shared a few weeks ago at the Women’s Conference held at Prestonwood Baptist Church where I had the privilege of leading worship.

The beauty of being the Women’s Ministry Assistant is that I know exactly what the topic is and which direction we are attempting to take during the weekend. It truly does make it easier to plan every worship set.

This year we settled on the topic “Destiny: Choice... Not Chance”. To be completely honest, I was not the biggest fan when we sat down to prepare. I think so much mysticism has circulated around the word “Destiny” that it can almost seem as taboo in the church. But, my ever so wise, godly, firecracker of a boss, Debbie Stuart, thought it would be a good idea. (Note: I should learn that she’s not just pulling these things out of a hat and that she’s actually hearing this stuff from the Lord. She’s not talking about what she wants but rather what God has asked her to address in front of these women.)

Through our planning we were often faced with the question that we knew so many would ask…

This is my destiny?! What am I supposed to do with this wreck that supposed to be my life? I’m doing what the Lord has asked me to do, and still I end up in a horrific and terrible situation, and you’re trying to tell me that this is my destiny? Why do good things happen to other people and not me? This can’t be my destiny!

I have to say that I know these very questions have circled in my mind a few times too many. I’ve been upset that life seems to be “peachy” for some, while mine seems to be in a standstill. In fact, I’ll admit that one of the toughest questions for me to reconcile with the Lord is how there are young women that I know who are completely UNFIT to be married or to be a mother, yet are fulfilling those very dreams right now that I so desperately desire. (DISCLAIMER: I’m not speaking of anyone I’m friends with or know here in TX or many of my friends at LU.) I can see the storm brewing, and in the drought, I’m begging for rain, but the clouds just won’t release and I’m left totally bummed! And it’s REALLY hard not to get offended with the Lord (see Kathy Ferguson Litton’s message “Destiny at Mile Marker 156” for a jolt to your attitude regarding that). So, really… it’s not just you! :-)

One of my sweet friends, Mary Bales, who has quite the testimony of her own, reminded me today that often times we want the good stuff, but we fail to see the junk that comes along with it. We fail to realize that no life, no family, no situation is perfect. We all have our struggles. You don’t just get the Escalade, the nice house, and the perfect children…

Anyway, back to the point.

In all of our planning for Women’s Conference, Debbie passed along a few verses that she wanted in our publicity pieces. She had also expressed her interest in having me lead worship after last year’s retreat. I was itching to pick out songs and find the perfect music to really drive the points home. So, to get an idea of where she wanted to focus and what verses she might be sticking to, I, like any good thematic worship leader, decided to look a few of the verses up. (Love it when the music lines up with the message… Personal preference, not saying it’s right or wrong.)

Well, that’s when it happened. God’s Word, the Sword of Truth, sliced right through me. There are a few times in my life that I have been so impacted by a passage of Scripture, and I can tell you exactly where I was and what I learned when it was truly made real to me.

I focused on Psalm 37 which basically says a lot of the same thing, just in different ways in each verse. While I’d love to put the entire chapter here, for verbosity’s sake, I’m going to try to just focus on a few of the verses. But please do yourself a favor and read the whole passage:

Psalm 37:1-11

Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land. In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

When something is repeated in Scripture, it’s usually an indicator that you better listen up. Well, I’ve highlighted what he repeats in this passage and it’s this… Fret not. Being the word lover that I am, I knew what my preconceived concept of this phrase was, but I wanted to look up the word fret. This is what I found:

fret verb

1. to feel or express worry, annoyance, discontent, or the like

2. to cause corrosion; gnaw into something

4. to become eaten, worn, or corroded (often followed by away )

6. to torment; irritate, annoy, or vex

8. to form or make by wearing away a substance

I don’t know why, but the word “corrode” jumps off the page at me. I think it’s an excellent word picture that we can seriously capture in our minds. We’ve seen how acid can corrode away a pipe, or how after time, rust corrodes the metal of a car.

Isn’t that what worry and striving is like? It wears away at our belief and trust that God really is good and just and righteous. It is like the grinding of sandpaper on our understanding that God will act on our behalf. It eats away at our comfort and security in the Savior who created the very universe we worry about. We begin to doubt that Romans 8:28 is true.

But He’s said three times in this one chapter not to let our circumstances eat away at our faith in Him.

Dr. Oswald Chambers says in “My Utmost for His Highest”:

            Jesus’ parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-30  was a warning that it is possible for us to misjudge our capacities. […]If we get less than God wants us to have, we will falsely accuse Him as the servant falsely accused his master when he said, “You expect more of me than you gave me the power to do. You demand too much of me, and I cannot stand true to you here where you have placed me.” […] The servant justified himself, while condemning his lord on every point, as if to say, “Your demand on me is way out of proportion to what you gave to me.” Have we been falsely accusing God by daring to worry after He has said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”? (Matthew 6:33). Worrying means exactly what this servant implied— “I know your intent is to leave me unprotected and vulnerable.”

Whoa! I think you and I both know God well enough that He never wants to leave us unprotected, vulnerable, and unequipped! His purpose for the storm, the unfulfilled promise, or the standstill is not for us to feel like He’s left us alone. He’s there! He’s working it all together. If we could just see over the horizon, we’d wonder why in the world we doubted.

You know what else hit me right between the eyes, because even in this “super spiritual” post, I’ve already done the very thing He says not to?? David writes, 

“fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.”

In other words, stop worrying about what everybody has, doesn’t have, will have, might have, might get, will get, have done, will do, might make, might do, or won’t have to put up with. Just stop it! Worrying about everybody else is what tends to evil. It leads you down a path of comparison that will ultimately lead you down a path of more and more sin. It’s called covetousness or jealousy, which could lead to things like stealing, hatred (which is equated to murder… remember?!), and just plain meanness and unkindness towards people you are called to love. 

Through all of this, I learned that my only responsibility is to believe that God really is who He says He is. He really is working on my behalf. He’s working all things together for my good. He’s faithful. He’s just. He’s righteous. Just keep walking… just keep carrying on… “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.” (vs. 3)

I’m super self-conscious about this, but I’ve written a song that I had the opportunity to sing at the Women’s Conference. I’m not asking you to listen if you don’t want, but it’s a little bit shorter version of everything I just learned. Check it out here.