Coffee With The Lord

I don’t know how many I’ve heard it, but someone will remark about an emerging young leader, “Watch that young person, “They’ve got a lot of promise!  They’re on their way up!”  Sometimes the comment is made about someone who has a lot of talent or, as they say… “savey.”  Other times it may be a remark about someone unusually industrious and conscientious.  I always cringe a bit when the comment is used for someone with unbridled or unprincipled aggression.  But the Bible urges comments like that for individuals of a different sort…

“Mark the blameless and behold the upright!  There is a future for the person of peace.  But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed; the future of the wicked shall be cut off.  The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their stronghold in the time of trouble.  The Lord helps them and delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him.”  (From Psalm 37:37-40)

We need to be more aware and alert to that kind of person it seems to me!  People with righteous lifestyles, integrity, and values that promote peace!  Not only do they have what it takes to succeed, God Himself is their advocate and helper!  Take Joseph in the Old Testament as an example… It didn’t matter what evil he experienced or negative experiences that came his way, the Bible says, “God MADE him to prosper.”  I’ll take that kind of person any day in an organization I’m a part of… Oh, and yes, I want to be that kind of person.

I remember as a boy when something would upset me – something I considered unfair or frightening… When that happened I’d express my concern and frustration in emotional, even frantic terms.  My mother would look at me, and in a controlled (almost commanding) voice reassure me and say, “Now LeRoy, don’t be a fuss’n – stop you’re fret’n!  It’s going to be OK!”

Well, that’s very much like the voice I heard from God’s word this morning from my Heavenly Father in Psalm 37…

“Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! … Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the person who carries out evil devices!  Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!  Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil!” (Psalm 37:1, 7, and 8)

Now perhaps, you, like me, are sometimes given to “fretting” and “fussing” like this.  You really need to read the rest of this wonderful Psalm!  It declares that God is in control regardless of how things appear!  It assures us that justice will ultimately be done!  It reminds us that God will reward and care for those who are faithful to Him.  The Psalm tell us that although the wicked may seem to prosper now and have their way, the Lord will have the last word!  So we can stop our “fretting” and “fussing” and trust our loving Heavenly Father to work things out fairly and faithfully!

Here’s just a taste of the assurances the psalm provides… I don’t have time or space for them all…

“Evildoers – wrongdoers 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!  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.  Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him… For the evildoer shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land… Better is the little that that righteous has than the abundance of many wicked… The Lord upholds the righteous!  The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever; they are not put to shame in evil times; in the days of famine they will have abundance… The steps of a man are established by the Lord and He delights in his way; through he fall, he will not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand.  I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.  He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing!”

And that’s just a few of the things the Psalm declares… So LeRoy… “Stop fussing!  Stop fretting!”