flittergibbetty

There once was a young girl named Freya. She was small for her age and as she grew, she started to fret. At first it was just the little things like not being able to tie her shoe when others in her class could. Then it was thinking that she wasn’t as smart as her friends. And each fret grew into a bigger fret until poor Freya was fretting everything from what outfit to wear for the day to what to eat for breakfast. No one seemed to notice until school photos. When all the children were smiling their beautiful smiles, showing their quirkiness and childlike traits, the camera man noticed that there were rather large fret lines across Freya’s forehead. When he tried to make her smile, she realized that she was fretting even more because she couldn’t and the lines showed even deeper on her little forehead. What was she to do? Freya simply fretted more and that’s when the photographer snapped the camera much to Freya’s dismay. “O flittergibbetty!” she exclaimed.

Do the photographs of our lives show fret lines? Perhaps when we look in the mirror in the morning, we should be checking for lines on our foreheads. Are we worried, concerned beyond belief, consumed by anxieties or anger?

At times, fretting displays itself in hopelessness or angry disposition to injustices. Maybe it’s fear of the future or perhaps bitterness due to suffering. It could be frustration. We cannot worship with worry. We can’t smile with suffering. We simply fret with frustration. When the word “fret” is translated, it means “to be warm” or “heated” or “agitated or angered.” It is really faithless frustration. Is there an anecdote?

There is, as King David revealed in Psalm 37. We are to trust in the Lord, do good, take delight in Him, refrain from anger, commiting our way to Him as we wait patiently for His return. We are not to be anxious about anything. More easily said than done, but there is healing in the scripture when we read:

Psalm 37: 1-13. We are told three times in these verses, “Do not fret.”

Do not fret because of those who are evil
    or be envious of those who do wrong;
 for like the grass they will soon wither,
    like green plants they will soon die away.

 Trust in the Lord and do good;
    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
 Take delight 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 do this:
 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
    your vindication like the noonday sun.

 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.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
    do not fret—it leads only to evil. 

For those who are evil will be destroyed,
    but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
    though you look for them, they will not be found.
 But the meek will inherit the land
    and enjoy peace and prosperity.

 The wicked plot against the righteous
    and gnash their teeth at them;
 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
    for he knows their day is coming.