Noonday Sun

Do not fret because of evil men 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.
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 do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men 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.
Psalm 37:1-8
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Do not fret over men or evil. Trust in the Lord. Dwell in the land. Commit your way to the Lord. Be still before the Lord. Be free to shine like the dawn, the ‘justice of your cause like the noonday sun.’

The Word of the Lord is rich, simple, complicated and free for us all to soak in. This morning I kept having the words ‘noonday sun’ stuck in my head. I had to reread this passage, one of my all time favorites. I want to commit my ways to the Lord. I want to give him my desires and dreams to see how he will use them. I want to release anger and frustration to him. I want to boldly believe that God is a Father who cares for his children.

Last week I felt like I was an octopus with all my appendages being pulled in opposite directions. I felt like I was doing nothing well, and everything at half capacity. Relationships feel like they were suffering or minimal, my heart was short with my kids, everything was just not where I wanted it to be. I called Phill one day when I thought it was all about to explode, anxiety was ripe within me. I asked which things I should do that particular day, because I was overloaded and couldn’t do it all. His question in rebuttal caused all of me to stop and really analyze my motivators. He asked me ‘a year from now, what will you have wanted to invest in and who do you want to be? From there, consciously choose what you want to choose today to invest in. The rest will fall into alignment.’

This had me on my knees asking Lord who am I? What have I poorly invested in, either too much or not enough? Steer the ship that is my heart Lord. If our lives are but a blip on the radar of the world, I want my little moment to count. I want to shine like the noonday sun. THe world doesn’t need me to be fried and haggard. The world needs me to boldly reflect the face of the one who sent me and made me. Friends, what are we reflecting from our faces? I felt like my face was heavy, worn out, and fatigued. I want the noonday sun to reflect on my face. I want to recommit my ways to the Lord and I want to trust him. I want to trust him with my fears, my joys, my unknowns, my tasks, my family, my dreams, my ministry. The name Emily means industrious one. My middle name is joy. I want to freshly live in the title given to me, that I would industriously choose joy.

Three times in this passage it says ‘do not fret.’ The passage is rich in verbs, commands, action steps. I want to trust, dwell, delight and commit my ways to him. I want to relinquish fretting, anger, frustration and the unnecesaries. I encourage you to ‘be still before the Lord’ and quiet your heart. ‘Dwell in the land’. See the nature around. See the creator who made the nature. Be a person of commitment, joy, hope and trust.

Our God is good, our God is big, and our God is inviting us to come to him.