Fretting and Meekness

Take a good look at Pslam 37. Read the whole thing, but the verses I want to focus on are right here:

7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!

8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9 For the evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

10 In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
11 But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.

Note: fretting and waiting are set against one another. Fretting leads only to evil, but those who wait on the Lord will ultimately "inherit the land."

Note also: those who wait are described as "the meek." the fretters plan out aggressive strategies to get what they want (and thus, they hope, relieve them from the need to fret) but these plans only tend to evil. They are "evil devices." The meek, on the other hand, simply wait, not trying to engineer or manipulate ends of their own devising.

Question: what are you fretting about? Have you noticed how fretting leads to evil? Perhaps you've noticed that in another, but not yourself. When your boss frets, for example, you may notice how it clearly leads to evil, but do you notice this about your own fretting? Or are you an anxiety justifier? If so, go back and read Psalm 37 again. And again.

It's pretty clear the "age of anxiety" is still going strong. But is all our worrying only leading to evil? And evil, by the way, will come to naught. That's the promise of the kingdom. But those who wait patiently, the meek, as Jesus says, will inherit the earth!

Think about that, and then bow down.