"A Fretter"

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. (Philippians 4:6-8 NASB).

Can I make a confession? I am a fretter sometimes. I know that seems a little hard to believe given my high optimism, but there are those times when I fret about the well being of my family. Perhaps that’s natural, but I am still drawn to our reading today in order to gain strength and assurance as I deal with it.

Recently I read an interesting note from Paul Dickson. He discovered that the size of the cut he inflicted on himself while shaving was directly proportionate to the importance of the event for which he was shaving. That led him to an interest in other "universal laws" evident in daily life. The following are a few of the many he has collected:

"No books you lend are lost except those you particularly want to keep."
"There are three ways to get something done: do it yourself; hire someone; or tell your kids not to do it."
"You can throw a burnt match out of the window of your car and start a forest fire easier than you can start one under dry logs in your fireplace with a box of matches and the complete edition of the Sunday newspaper."

Let's face it, more often than not, it's life's little annoyances that get to us and hit our "worry" button. And most of us have at least one "worry" button. Like my fretting, it is an area of weakness that God wants us to overcome. As long as I have a "worry button" that is still active, it's a reminder that I still have some growing to do so I can get to the place where I quit worrying and trust God for everything!

Well, I'm still working on mine, but God hasn't finished with me yet. How about you? The Apostle Paul knows the answer… he urges us to repattern our thoughts: Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. These are the things of God’s grace and love. Focus on them and the frets seem to dissolve into strength and hope!