Stillness vs. Fretting

     A good word for today from the Good Word:
          "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!  Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!  Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil." (Ps.37:7-8)
     Those words jumped out at me today, and I think that's often one of the ways the Holy Spirit grabs our attention and speaks to us.  So I thought I'd just camp out on them for a moment.
     The Psalmist had me at "Be still."  Sigh.  Well, Lord, I'm not going to win any awards for my ability to "be still" before You... or anybody else.  My motto lends more towards the let-no-silence-go-unbroken tendency.  Fill up that empty space with words or with noise or with chores or with actions.  Better yet, double-book that empty space with multi-tasking.
     But unless we slow down to be still, we can't be filled.  If we aren't silent long enough to hear the beauty of the peaceful silence, we will miss the bounty of the Prince of Peace.  I don't ever recall hearing words in the Gospels that "Jesus ran..." or "Jesus rushed..." or even "Jesus rallied His forces and got busy multi-tasking all the work to be done."
     Nope, Jesus always seemed to have time for the people God placed before Him.  He walked at His Father's pace--busy, yes, but always patient and loving and purposeful.  Never preoccupied, but always prayerful.
     Help us Father to be still before You and to wait patiently on Your plan, Your pace, Your purposes for our day.  O brother, this is hard, but the rewards are so life-sustaining, so satisfying.
     And then, we're to "fret not yourself."  Ouch.  Anybody around here (besides yours truly) a world championship fretter?  Fret over the children.  Fret over the news.  Fret over school.  Fret over schedules.  Fret over whether I can find some chocolate cake tonight.  Fret over how we're not measuring up or not meeting expectations or somehow or other falling behind.
     And where exactly does all that fretting get us?  Nowhere.  Certainly not at peace.  Nor joyful.  Nor hopeful.  Nor helpful.  And we surely can't love or encourage others if we're full of self-focused fretting.
     Isn't fretting really just self-centered preoccupation rather than Christ-centered prayerful waiting and trusting?    No wonder the Psalmist says "it tends only to evil."  Part of me wants to say, "duh."  And yet I live as if all my fretting and rushing and multi-tasking will somehow, someway be magically transformed into the peace and contentment my soul craves.
     Okay, I'll shut up now... like I said, too many words.  Not enough stillness before the Savior.  So Abba, Father, take all our fretting, all our fussing, all our hurrying, all our worrying and help us to be still and wait patiently for You... trusting  that Your pace and Your plans for us and those that we love are best, pleasing, and perfect.  To God be the glory.