Do not fret—it leads only to evil (Psalm 37:8 NIV).
I’ve discovered when the Lord tells me not to fret, I can expect something to happen that I will be inclined to fret about! October of 1993 when I was threatened with a lawsuit was no exception.
After I read Psalm 37 in my devotional time (which three times instructs us not to fret), the director of the agency for which my husband and I did foster care called. He said he intended to sue us because I’d written a letter to officials about his haphazard way of making important decisions about our foster children. Then God reminded me of His word to me that morning: “Don’t Fret!” Although fear threatened to overwhelm me and I longed to give in to my desire to worry, instead I called and asked my friends to pray.
In the end, the agency director not only did not sue me but also decided to take an early retirement. The possible disaster I’d been tempted to worry about never happened, but the damage fretting would have done to my body and mind would have been real. That’s why God asks us to trust Him with the future instead of engaging in a habit which would only do us harm.
What are you tempted to fret about today? There are plenty of reasons in a world fraught with a corona virus pandemic, a nation torn by racial unrest and violence, and a crucial election only weeks away. May God enable you to turn your fretting into faith, your worries and cares into prayers.
Father, help us remember that your commands are always for our good. Amen.
