Fret Not.

Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of workers of iniquity. Psalm 37:1

Last week, Portuguese police recaptured a convict who escaped from prison in 1993. He had served 2 years of a 10-year sentence. He had lived in caves in the mountains outside Lisbon for 16 years. He was thin, heavily bearded and had spent the majority of the time with little to no human contact. Those who worried about his escape could have rested easy; his self-imposed exile was a greater punishment than he had been given. Christians must trust that any gains realized by those who cheat, steal and take shortcuts, will not last.

Psalm 37 assures the righteous that in spite of how it looks God ultimately will punish the wicked and reward the righteous. Although there are those who prosper by scheming, the believer is instructed to trust in the Lord and do good. The psalmist invites us to feed on His faithfulness and to delight ourselves in the Lord and He will give us the desires of our hearts. In this prolonged recession we can be tempted to take short cuts. When confronted with diminishing resources and mounting debt, we may feel that compromise is necessary or even unavoidable. It is during these times we must hold on to the words of Psalm 37 even more tightly. Commit your way to the Lord, David writes, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass. When we take matters into our own hands, we risk cheating ourselves of God’s blessings and his mercy.

My prayer for you today is that you work with what you have and trust in the Lord to hold you up.

Deacon Larry Woodard