September 9, 2008

Fret Not


If you watch CNN or the Weather Channel, you have seen and heard about some fretful matters in our world. A nurse in the Army Reserve talked to me about coming back from Iraq last March and of her upcoming deployment in January. After her four-month long tours, she returns to Baytown and her job at Methodist Hospital. Life back to normal, she didn’t appear to fret over her upcoming return to Iraq. We casually sat at a dining table with a third friend, laughing and talking. I was left to wonder why she wasn’t hiding in her house wringing her hands in the dark? When she told me that her hospital unit had been under attack five times, I asked if she was scared. She readily replied, “yes”. Even the calm soldier frets under the dangers of war in Iraq.

Hurricanes spin their way through warm waters blowing up a storm and disrupting life as it slides across land in its path. Threaten by Gustav; we watched the weather, prayed that Gustav would go away from us and spare poor New Orleans. Our prayers were answered and without even so much as a drop of rain, Gustav turned away. Then, as it made landfall to the east, we wondered how New Orleans could withstand another hit three years after Katrina devastated people’s homes and left others homeless. Our prayers again were heard as the storm slowed coming on land, lessening its hit to Louisiana. Thousands of evacuees exhaled in relief and journeyed back home, many with prayers of thanksgiving on their lips.
Wars and storms will leave us fretting if we allow it. We don’t need to fret if we believe God’s promises.

Psalm 37: 1 says:

Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die.

Also, Matthew 24:6 tells us,
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.

Jesus calmed a storm when he …rebuked the wind and raging waters. (Matthew 24:6) Just as the disciples were afraid of drowning even with their Savior nearby, we also fret even though the Father is still nearby. Jesus asked the disciples, “Where is your faith?” Could Jesus be asking the same of us today when we worry and fret over storms out of our control?

When storms persist and wars continue, have faith. He won’t tell you to “buck up” or “get tough.” He’s been where you are. He knows how you feel. The Father is with us to still the storm and calm the soldier. Who’s to say he won’t do the same for you?
(Lucado, Max. Traveling Light, (W. Publishing Group: Dallas, TX, 2001) 101.
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