Fret Not: Trusting God's Plan in Troubled Times

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and Family Updates
• 3:52 Introduction to Psalm 37
• 5:20 Finding Hope During Difficult Times
• 9:23 Overcoming Fear and Worry
• 11:12 Life Changes and New Seasons
• 12:42 Taking a Break to Hear from God

Transcript

Audrey: 1:14

Hello friends, welcome back to Grace From my Home. I'm Audrey McCracken and I'm so glad you've joined me here again this week. I really enjoy these times together and my hope and my prayer is that you are encouraged that something that I share would be a blessing to you. For the week We've had a lot going on here in the mccracken home. It's been busy sports. We have soccer going on right now. Believe it or not, one of my sons already started to practice for football, doing some conditioning for next year, some lifting, lifting weights and those kind of things. I have one son who got a cast taken off of his arm last week, so that was good news. So yeah, we've been pretty busy.

Audrey: 1:59

My husband left yesterday to go to Tennessee for about three days. I wanted to go with him. I thought that would have been a fun trip. He had a business trip and he would be busy during the day but I could spend the evenings and the afternoons with them. But it just didn't fall out a good time. I didn't feel comfortable leaving with so much going on here at work, at the coffee shop and at home. So I'm here with the boys this week and today.

Audrey: 2:32

I wanted to share with you. I want to share with you something that's been on my heart lately, one of my favorite Psalms. I wanted to talk with you something that's been on my heart lately, one of my favorite Psalms. I wanted to talk with you today about Psalm 37, and this is a Psalm of David and the whole Psalm is wonderful. But I'm just going to read the first nine verses because I don't want to lose you, because I know sometimes when people read long passages my mind wanders.

Audrey: 2:56

So I want to start with verse one of Psalm 37 and just pay attention to what David is saying in this Psalm. He says 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.

Audrey: 4:08

And I just love this psalm because it reminds me that in the end, we win In the end when we're on God's side. End, we win. In the end, when we're on God's side, we win. It may not look like it, it may not feel like it, but we have a hope that is in Jesus Christ. We have precious promises and God has promised that he will never leave us, he will never forsake us. But in the midst of it, sometimes it's easy to lose hope. When things are coming against us like a whirlwind, when it feels like your life is a tornado just spinning, it's really easy sometimes to think this is not going to end well for me. It's really easy to wonder where God is. But this psalm reminds me not to fret and I like that word fret.

Audrey: 5:05

Maybe it's because I'm from the South and many, many times I remember my grandmother saying don't fret, you know, don't fret none. And my grandmother she was born in the 1920s and she grew up during the Great Depression and I had a wonderful grandmother. I loved her very much. Both of my grandmothers grew up during the Great Depression but I spent a lot of time with my father's mom and her name was Mary mom and her name was Mary, and while my mom worked I stayed with her. I spent a lot of time with her and she loved the Lord.

Audrey: 5:41

She loved the Lord dearly, but she was very nervous. She was a very nervous type person and I remember, you know, so many times things would happen in her life. It seemed like she had, she had a lot of, she had a lot of children and she took on the hurts, the pains, the trouble that all of those children went through. She took those on as a mom, even her adult children, and I remember so many times her life from a child looking into it seemed like it was just chaos, it was chaotic, but she trusted in Jesus, she would pray and she would believe.

Audrey: 6:26

And so many times I think about her in my life and all the conveniences I have and the things that the Lord has blessed us with, and she had none of that, but she trusted God, she believed, and I think about her often and I think, lord, help me to do like this psalm says to do good. Help me to get my eyes off of everyone else and everything else that's going on around me, because right now I don't know about you, but I'm at a place where it's easy to look around and think well, these other people around me are not even trying to serve the Lord, they're not even trying to do right and they seem to have it easy. It seems like things just work out for them easier than it does for me, and this psalm is a wonderful reminder that the safest place to be, the most secure place to be, the most certain place to be, is right in the hands of God, that he works all things for good. For those who trust him, those who believe in his promises, those who hold on when things are hard, there is a hope. That is in Jesus Christ, and we are partakers of that hope when we hold on and we don't let worry and we don't let fret and we don't let fear drive us or control us. Now I have a tendency to do that. That has been part of, that has been part of my makeup and even though I've come a long way, you know there's certain, there's certain parts of me that that If I'm not careful, I can resort back to mindsets and thoughts and beliefs and patterns of thinking that fall right into that mode of fear. But, by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm being transformed and transfigured into the image of Christ and I'm learning to think like God. I'm learning to think of the things that are good and pleasant and wholesome and true and life-giving, instead of worrying about the things that are not as they should be or as I want them to be. Today, I just encourage you not to fret, not to worry, but to put your trust in God, because he is trustworthy, he is our firm foundation and he is not confused or worried. He knows exactly how everything is going to end up and he is on our side and he wants the best for us and we can trust in that, we can rest in that.

Audrey: 9:13

Today, ladies, there is a lot going on in my life right now my personal life, my home life, and I have a young man who's going to be graduating this year, which blows my mind. My firstborn will be graduating high school this year and entering into college this fall, and I have two more, and I love my three boys, my three children very, very much, and my husband and we have just been on a roller coaster ride. It feels like for the last three years I've transitioned from homeschooling to not homeschooling. I've opened up a coffee shop for my church. My husband has recently resigned as pastor of our church, where we've served for 16 years, and he's working on his PhD. We've just had a lot change, a lot happen in the last few years, like I'm sure you have too.

Audrey: 10:14

You know time does not stop, for anyone does it but I feel a great need right now to draw near to the Lord and to hear from Him, to hear clear direction from Him and not just go through the motion, but really hear from the Lord for this new season and find direction and actually enjoy this time with my family, with my children, while they're still here under my roof. And so if you do not hear from me for the next few weeks, please know that I'm just trying to hear from the Lord, that I want to bring you things that are true, that are rich, that are from my heart, and things that I'm actually living. I try really hard not to share things with you that I know in my head, but I haven't practiced in my life, because that's easy to do, especially when you're looking for a message each week. I really want to share with you the things that I live out and the things that I embody not just the things that I live out and the things that I embody, not just the things that I've read. And so forgive me if, for a few weeks, I go missing because I need to hear from Jesus. I need to concentrate on my home and my family and just hear from the Lord. Now I may just pop back on, hear from the Lord. Now I may just pop back on and do these kind of short episodes, and hopefully that's what I'll be able to do in the next few weeks. But I'm going to put my family first for a few weeks.

Audrey: 11:45

But before I let you go, I'd like to pray with you, father, in Jesus name. I pray for these precious ones, lord, who are about your business, who are listening, who are trying, who love you and want to love you more. I pray that you would speak to them, that you would give them ears to hear and eyes to see and, lord, god, that you would help faith grow in their hearts and God, give them something to pour out. I pray that you would pour into them, that they would have something good to pour out to those around them that they love and that you love. And, lord, I just bless them and I thank you, lord. That Lord, you are faithful, that Lord, when we pray, you're faithful to answer. And I pray, lord, that you would draw us near you and help us to trust you in a deeper way. In Jesus' name, amen.