“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord , and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord , and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord ; trust in him, and he will act”.
Today’s pastoral column reflection came about from a lesson within the module of WWBI’s “Christian Growth “.
Some Christians bear 3 kinds of troubles – problems they had in the past, problems they have at the present and problems they expect to have in the future. Good for those of us who can and not belong to any of these categories.
Distinguished Brethren, George Mueller, once said, that the beginning of anxiety is the end of the faith; and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety. Worry is a curse to the human family, to say nothing of its devastating results in the life of thr Christian.
We thank God that in recent time, the challenges faced by certain families and individuals within our assembly, have certainly taught many of us, the lesson of not worrying and putting trust in our God.
There are so many things in life that can be so perplexed. A fast-living young couple is married and in due time a little baby arrives; it is a beautiful baby perfectly formed. A new baby arrives in the home of a sacrificing young pastor and his wife. The parents’ hearts are broken for the baby is born blind. So great is the perplexity of God’s people that God comforts us through the writing of such Psalm.
The word “fret” is used here in a very graphic Hebrew word, KHOROH, meaning “to glow, to inflame, to blaze up, to burn”. In the Scriptures it is used of anger, jealousy, zeal, worry and grieving. Three times it was used in Psalm 37 (1,7-8). Evidently, the Psalmist is warning against the feeling that rises within the believer as he beholds the apparent prosperity and successes of the wicked, the unbeliever, as compared to the poverty and limited circumstances of the godly.
When was the last time, you feel that your seemingly well deserved promotion, just passed you, before the eyes of many of your peers. And you feel that the whole world has been unfair to you.
It is like a fire in the soul, and if not yielded to God’s control, it can break into a blaze that can turn destroy our own testimonies and effectiveness for God. The resentment towards such so called inequities will spread to include the unbelieving themselves, and if we are not careful, it will sometimes lend itself to doubts, fears, rebellion and criticism of God and His ways in the lives of His children.
Many unbelievers neglect the greatest transaction in all of life, namely the acceptance of God’s gift, even Jesus Christ. Are we as believers prepared to stand firm in our beliefs and trust in our God, and living in a way, that the neglect can see God in us?
True prosperity is found only in acceptance of God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
The journey to “beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety” as experienced by George Muller, is difficult but not an impossibility. May the Lord help each of us as we seek after Him.
Elder Andrew Lim
Ref: WWBI’s Christian Growth
