Today's passage is Psalm 37:1-20.
David advises me not to fret, to trust in the Lord, delight in the Lord, commit to the Lord, and be still before the Lord. Don't worry about the wicked because they will disappear in the end.
Three times in this psalm, David says "do not fret". But it's hard not to fret.
Today was a good example of fretting for me.
For eight hours I was in a workshop on how to prepare my school for a kind of inspection, an evaluation of my school and how well we teach and our students learn.
To prepare for this visit, we have to analyse ourselves and write an honest report on our strengths and weaknesses and what our plan of improvement is. It's a big task.
For most of today, I saw how I am going to fail at it.
I fretted. I got a headache. I felt so overwhelmed that I wanted to go to sleep.
I couldn't think after a while. I couldn't take notes. I wanted to quit because I couldn't see myself being able to do the job ahead.
I felt jealous of the people who were energized by the challenge while I saw myself as inadequate.
But today's passage helped me gain a healthier perspective. "Trust in the Lord". Right.
Although I'm inadequate, God is not. "Delight yourself in the Lord". Right.
That's my bigger purpose in life. I may be a frightened little wretch, but I'm heaven bound by the grace of God and my faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him".
Yes, that's what I need to do.
By God's arrangement of my schedule, I have no workshops tomorrow.
I have a day to pray and rest in the Lord, be still before him and wait patiently for him to sort out the mass of information I was overloaded with today so that I can see his direction for me and my school.
Over and over, God shows me the inadequacy of my strength to do the tasks he sets before me. I crumble under the load, but that's the point.
Just as Simon of Cyrene had to carry Jesus' cross to Calvary, so too does God carry the burden of my life as I fall down and trust in him.
Once again the Lord has told me today, "Do not fret".
Lord, forgive my fretting. Forgive my stubborn pride in thinking I am adequate to the demands of my circumstances. Give me the desire of my heart, which is to delight in you.
