Frank sat at the edge of the field, head buried in his hands. The sun was high, but his spirit was low. Crops were failing, the lender had come knocking, and his prayers felt like whispers into the wind.
“I’m not sure how much longer I can hold on,” he muttered. “I’ve done everything right. Why is this happening?”
That’s when the words from his morning reading echoed back:
“Fret not—it only leads to evil.” —Psalm 37:8
He had underlined it in his journal, even drawn a box around the phrase: “One of God’s great don’ts.”
But now? He was fretting— hard.
The Reality of Worry
Oswald Chambers, in his book “My Utmost For His Highest” calls fretting a spiritual faultline . It doesn’t just signal stress; it reveals something deeper: a refusal to surrender control. Chambers writes:
“Fretting springs from a determination to get our own way.”
Worry often disguises itself as responsibility or caution. But in God’s eyes, it’s rooted in fear and pride. It’s our way of saying, “If I don’t handle this, no one will”—even God.
And Elijah realized, with a twinge of guilt, that this was exactly where he was: exhausted not from circumstances alone, but from resisting God’s rhythm.
What Did Jesus Do?
Elijah flipped to a bookmarked line in his notes:
“Our Lord never worried and He was never anxious, because He was not ‘out’ to realise His own ideas; He was ‘out’ to realise God’s ideas.”
That line hit hard.
Jesus, the Son of God, had every reason to be anxious—opposition, betrayal, death—but He never fretted. Why? Because His life was aligned to a higher plan. He didn’t scramble to manage outcomes. He surrendered to the Father’s will.
“Not My will, but Yours be done.” —Luke 22:42
Elijah closed his eyes. His fretting was evidence that he’d veered from that mindset. He’d been chasing his own version of “how things should go”—and carrying the crushing weight of it.
The Turning Point
Chambers doesn’t leave us condemned—he offers a way out:
“Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about that thing.”
So Elijah stood up. Right there in the field, with no answers in sight, he whispered:
“God, I give You my need, my worry, and my control. I will not fret. You are still good. You are still God.”
It wasn’t emotional—it was deliberate. An act of faith.
Truths to Take Home
- Worry is not wisdom; it’s spiritual resistance.
- Jesus didn’t worry because He trusted the Father’s plan fully.
- Peace comes when we trade control for surrender.
- You can choose to stop worrying—today.
Reflect & Share
What are you carrying today that’s weighing you down?
- Is it truly responsibility… or is it worry disguised as control?
- Are you “ out to realize your own ideas ,” or surrendered to God’s?
- What would happen if you deliberately told God, “I will not fret”? A Prayer
Father, I’ve been calculating life without You. I’ve been measuring peace by my circumstances. But today, I lay down my worry. I don’t want my will—I want Yours. I trust You, even when I don’t see the outcome. I choose to stop fretting. In Jesus’ name, amen.
