The Lodestar

There are several reasons for fretting: our own failures or others failing us by not meeting our expectations. Caregivers like pastors, counsellors, and so forth become victims of people who relieve themselves by dumping their anxieties on others, like mosquitoes that carry parasites causing Malaria but are immune to the sickness. For whatever reason, Christ-followers waste time fretting over all things imaginable.

The psalmist offers a comforting reminder that the first step in avoiding fretting is recognising the temporary nature of our worries. Those who cause us anxiety are not permanent fixtures in our lives. "For like grass they will soon wither. Like green plants they will soon die away" (Psalm 37:2). No one can cause a child of God to worry permanently since the troublemakers are not there forever; they can only create temporary distractions.

So, instead of fretting, the children of God should not even glance at the enemy but turn their attention to God. The advice has four verbs— "trust" (37:3), "delight" (37:4), "commit" (37:5) and "Be still (37:7)—all about God. By trusting in God and delighting in God's work, we over­come fretting over the enemy. We need to commit our ways to God and be still. In other words, leave to God everything that frustrates, who will act according to his will. In sum, turn our attention from the enemy to God!

Do not fret, but focus on God!

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