Hello Family!

Don’t worry. Be happy. Yes, this is soooo Jamaican mahn. Today’s devotional thought is on Psalm 37:1-3 (click the hyperlink to read the verse).

Today I was reading Psalm 37:1-10 for my devotion. And boy, did it ever hit home. It’s about ‘fretting’. Do you know what it means to ‘fret’ about something? It means ‘to worry unnecessarily or excessively’, ‘to be agitated or irritated’. The Hebrew for ‘fret’ is chrh, which means ‘to burn’.

Is there something that you are worried about? Maybe it’s how to make ends meet financially. Or, maybe you’re worried about the future and how your life will turn out. Or, maybe you’re angry with how somebody is acting toward you or treating you–so much so that you feel like you ‘hate’ that person (though as Christians, we are not to hate anyone; Jesus says that’s just like murder–so you can strongly dislike someone).

There are valid things that we can be concerned about. And yes, there are valid reasons to be angry with someone. But think about this–what does that excessive worry do to you? How does it make you feel? And really, how does fixating upon that issue help? Or what about anger; how does that make you feel inside? It gets us excited and revved up in the wrong way. It causes unneeded stress, and it eats away at our insides-it burns us up. I know! I’ve done enough fretting and worrying. You, as my family, have can attest to this! And quite frankly, it doesn’t do any good anyway. The problem remains, or the person we are angry with continues his or her life apparently without even knowing that it’s bugging us.

Psalm 37:3 says that we are to ‘trust’ in God. That means that we are to ‘feel secure’ and ‘be unconcerned’. This security and calmness isn’t something we feel only once in a while. It’s something that God wants us to do and feel over and over and over again. He wants us as Christians to trust Him. It becomes a way of life and daily living. I know that this can be difficult at times, especially when it seems like life keeps squeezing us. However, remember that you are a baptized child of God. Remember that Jesus knows everything that worries us, or causes us to get so frustrated that we don’t know where to go or what to do. Jesus felt that stress when He was on the cross. Jesus felt the results of the peoples’ hatred toward Him with every pounding of the nails into His hands and feet, and when the Roman soldiers pressed the crown of hatred into His head. And then Jesus felt the wrath of God’s anger burn against Him as He suffered and eventually died on the cross. Yes. Jesus knows our every worry, concern and feeling. He rose again on Easter and now lives on the ‘other side’ of that anger, worry and concern.

We are called to trust Him and feel secure in Him. God wants His people, including the Redekers, to live anxious-free lives. 1 Peter 5:6-7 reminds us what God wants us to do–cast (fling and let go of them) all your anxieties and problems to Jesus, because He really does care about you. Don’t be concerned with tomorrow. Focus on today, and take one day at a time–take it with Jesus. Go to Him in prayer and lay your concerns and feelings on Him. Give it to Him trusting that He is there to help you and walk with you through anything that concerns or bugs you. You’ll be amazed at how calming it is to cast your worries and problems on Jesus because then that frees you up to live your life in a more joyful way.

I love you guys!

Dad