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Trust

 Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:3-4)

         Yesterday, David’s lesson to us was to not fret – not even when evil people do evil things and seem to be blessed (or at least enriched) thereby. Don’t fret, even when you’re doing things you don’t want to do and you can’t stop. Fretting glorifies the evil, and takes the time and energy you might have used to combat that evil.

Oddly, we don’t have as much difficulty recognizing fretting or worrying as we do trusting and having faith.

David’s alternative to fretting is trusting. Normally, my response to mentions of words like trust and faith is a groan followed by a long lecture on how I don’t know what trust is or how to do it. Not this time. This time, David provides us with a parallel. One can either fret or one can trust. One can either worry or believe/have faith. It’s the same process.

When one worries or frets, one focuses on the thing or one sort of thing, and the news is all painful or bad. “Why is it I never get a break? Everyone knows he’s a crook, and he’s living in a beautiful home while I’m watching my house slowly crumble around me…” etc. etc., etc.

The parallel, or perhaps the opposite is just as simple. “I am protected. God will provide all of my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Here is where God wants me right now. Not my will, but Thine…” etc., etc., etc. Same process, different outcomes.

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