Worried?

1 Do not fret because of those who are evil
    or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
    like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good;
    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
    your vindication like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
    when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
    do not fret—it leads only to evil.
-Psalm 37:1-8

Fret not thyself, for it tendeth only to evil doing. 
-Psalm 37:8

There are days when I find my greatest revelation in  the world around me--the sunsets, the flowers, the birds, the strength of my mother--and there are other days when I find the lessons I need to learn in the time I spend reading what God has written to me. 

Today was a bit of both. 

Have you ever thought about worrying enough to realize that we wouldn't worry at all if we put all our effort into seeking God's plan for our lives? If we were out to realize God's plans, rather than our own, the things we go through and look forward to wouldn't be of our own will but of God's. And we would know this because our one effort is to glorify God and live for Him. 

1 Do not fret because of those who are evil
    or be envious of those who do wrong;

Verse one of Psalm 37 commands us not to worry because of the evil that is going on around us. As Oswald Chambers writes, don't calculate without God. Don't calculate with evil in view.  In other words, don't calculate with the rainy day in view. 

When we make plans and we get ready for life--when we prepare ourselves--we can not do it worrying about anything. We need to calculate our lives and our future paths as though there is no evil to work around.

We are called to love--are we not? Love . . . taketh no account of evil (1 Corinthians 13:5b). As Christians, as followers of Christ, that is our command. Love. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself (Luke 10:27).

When we are acting in love, we are not taking into account the evil in this world. When we do not take into account the evil in this world, we take into account only God's plan. When we are only calculating with God in view, we have no reason to worry.

Do not fret. Do not worry. Do not be envious of those who do wrong. 
Calculate with God in view. 

4 Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Verse four states that if we take delight in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts. 

Now, this is something I don't have scripture to back up, but it is something I believe nonetheless. When we make God our center, I believe He makes the desires of our hearts line up with what He has in store for our lives. He makes His plans and His will our desire--if we delight ourselves in Him. 

In Him. Not if we delight ourselves in our own plans, but if we delight ourselves in Him. Not if we find our delight in what people think of us, our plans for the future, the situations we are in, or the places we plan to be. 

It comes back to do not worry. If we are taking our delight in the Lord we are not making our plans more important than His. If we make our lives less important than His plans we will put our delight in Him. With our delight in Him, He will give us the desires of our hearts, and He will fulfill those desires. We will not be consumed in worry.

Be still and wait. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath. Do not fret. These things lead only to evil (Psalm 37:7-8).