Fret. A powerful four letter word. We are commissioned, by
God, to “Fret not because of…” To be burned or kindled with anger. How often
have you said, “It just burns me up”? Maybe it wasn’t you. Perhaps it was someone
you have conversed with – a family member, a friend or co-worker.
Fret. To
feel or express worry, annoyance, or discontent. This definition may bring it
closer to home. You watch someone do some shady business and somehow they get
‘rewarded’ in spite of the means that were used to get to the conclusion. It’s
annoying. It chafes you. It just doesn’t sit right, in your spirit. We have
tried to gain solace in the scripture, “Fret not thyself because of evil
doers.” Do we take it there? Do we call them ‘evil doers’?
Some of us,
I dare not say all or even most, choose to live our lives out doing things the
way God ordains. We seek the Lord, listen for His voice, and follow His
instructions to the letter. We do not allow ourselves any input nor do we
assign a conclusion. We just trust God with the outcome of our life’s events
and find peace in knowing that He directs our steps. We are keeping our eyes on
the prize and not on our neighbor, those we work and/or go to school with or
that family member that seems to find success at every turn. *Crickets!
Crickets!*
I want to
take our focus of off the passage that comes so readily to our mind and take a
look at this … Fret. To compete. Pause and carefully think about it. Let it
wash over you. Mull it around. Swish it around in your mouth like a fine wine
(or grape juice). Fretting – being overly concerned with the way someone else
is doing things and their outcome can lead to competition. “If Bob or Fran are
doing it that way, and it seems to be working for them, maybe I should do it
that way, as well.” Let us not forget that we are going to ‘tag’ God in on our
plan (which is really Bob’s and Fran’s plan) looking for His blessing and
provision.
The
Israelites, when they were in the wilderness, began to fret about Egypt and the
Egyptians. Think about it. They began to reminisce about the food they enjoyed
(in slavery, all the while complaining about it). They began to think the ways
of the Egyptians got things done, so they pooled their God-given booty together
to create an idol. The Egyptians, evil-doers, were idol worshippers and things
got done in Egypt. The Israelites took fretting all the way. And at times, so
do we. Admit it. How many times have you changed the way you handle things
based on what you have seen others do? I am not talking about successful
God-fearing mentors, but those who seem to be getting it done. The movers and
the shakers.
Fret. A worn
or eroded place; to cause corrosion; to make a way by gnawing. Eventually, as
we keep our eyes on what is happening outside of our true sphere of influence
(in someone else’s lane), it eats away at our faith and our confidence that
God’s plan and process for our lives will not produce the outcome that we are
looking for. We become worn down in our search for our path and our way that
has been ordained by Him. The thoughts that others are setting goals and
achieving them in a timeframe that has been set by God knows who, vexes our
spirit and we become restless – just like the Israelites. We start creating our
own golden calf and doing things we see others doing and appearing successful.
It creates friction within our relationship with God and we turn to things –
regimens, schemes, processes and plans – that have not been written into our
story.
God says He
has thoughts and plans that are specific to each one of us. We just need to
learn how to be yielded and still enough to hear what He has to say. He says to
be still and know that He is God – we are not the gods of our own lives. He
will direct our footsteps for our path. He will give us plans and insight into
what we should do to prepare for our destiny.
FRET
NOT!
