“For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” – James 1:20
About twice a year we’re asked if we’d be willing to lead our weekly staff devotional time. Occasionally we’ll have guest speakers, but typically each of us prepares a message to share in this “family time” together. Well, you guessed it, my scheduled date was just a couple of weeks ago and as I prayed and contemplated over what to share, my thoughts kept coming back to a recent teaching series by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth on Revive Our Hearts called, “A Calm Heart in a Troubled World,” based on Psalm 37.
Since hearing these programs, I’ve been “camping” in verses 1-11 paying particular attention to the phrase that’s stressed three times: Fret Not
We see in this passage that the Scripture says the one thing we’re not to do is what we’re most prone to do—we’re not to fret.
Nancy says,
The cure for fretting and for anger is to look up. Look up where? Look up to God. Orient your life around the Lord. Tether your heart to Him. Tether your emotions to Him.
And then she gives these exhortations—four transforming words—that tell us how to look up:
TRUST
DELIGHT
COMMIT
WAIT
Some points to remember . . .
- If you become fretful and angry around people who are provoking you, you end up being the same kind of person that you are reacting to.
- Our fretting, worry, and anger is caused by trying to be God—trying to be in charge of something we’re not in charge of.
- Let us not default to fretting or anger when God doesn’t come through on our timetable.
After sharing this with our staff, the two words—FRET NOT—have become a motto as a daily reminder to actually live out the message of this Psalm, and it’s our encouragement for you, too!
August Program Highlights
Help your listeners grow in their love for the Word and the Lord Jesus as you encourage them to tune in daily for “Revive Our Hearts.” Here are highlighted programs airing this month:
August 1-12: “The Right Kind of Strong” with Mary Kassian
If a woman embraces biblical teaching, does that mean she can’t be strong? Mary Kassian says no. She says God calls women to what she calls: “The right kind of strong.” She’ll explain what that is when she joins Nancy for this series.
August 15-16: “True Girl: Raising Up the Next Generation of True Women” with Dannah Gresh
We need to pass along the truth of God’s Word in a way that young women understand. Dannah Gresh shares ways to invest in your daughter and help her know who she is in Christ.
August 19-21: “The Queen of Sheba”
A powerful, wealthy queen heard of a king even greater than she was. Her search for this king is a picture of the way we should seek after wisdom. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth will tell you the story of the Queen of Sheba.
August 28-30: “Friend-ish” with Kelly Needham
Everybody is talking about “friends.” We have friends on Facebook and other social platforms, but in the middle of all that talk, are we truly experiencing genuine friendship? Author Kelly Needham will show us how to experience authentic friendships.
For details and scripted promos, download the August Program Tool Kit here.
We thank you for airing these important programs on your station. And be encouraged that in a world where bad news is constantly trying to steal our attention, Nancy teaches us how to focus on Truth.
So, we will . . . FRET NOT!
