A couple times a week I will do what is called “defragmenting” (also referred to as “defragging”) my computer. Frequent use of certain programs and documents causes pieces of information to become scattered, requiring my computer to search for the pieces before it can use them. With regular use, files and folders on a computer’s hard drive break down or become “fragmented.” They become disorganized and scattered across the hard drive causing the system to slow down and experience processing problems. In some cases, severe fragmenting may even cause a program to stop running entirely. “Defragging” the computer gathers and reorganizes the files, putting related data back together (ones that had gotten spread out or on opposite sides of the hard drive), which improves retrieval time and the computer’s overall performance.
Like computers, our lives can also get fragmented. We can be torn in many directions because of our circumstances. Many people may be making demands on our time. Our emotions may be on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs as they are pulled this way and then that by situations and by people in our lives. We try to focus on the task at hand but have difficulty concentrating because of all the distractions. Prayer and personal Bible study are a real struggle, or may have even been abandoned because of all the hecticness and stress. Our mind won’t stop trying to resolve all the issues we are facing; sleep is hard to come by and soon we begin to feel weary, helpless and depressed. Our health begins to be affected. If we were to express to God how we feel, it might be: “Lord, I am scattered, restless, and only half here!” Our life has become so “fragmented” that we are having difficulty accomplishing anything. Some of the “programs” may have even quit working altogether.
I’m sure we have all been in such condition at one time or another. Maybe some of you are right now. King David experienced this as he describes in Psalm 55. He wrote: “Give ear to my prayer, O God; and do not hide Yourself from my supplication. Give heed to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted, because of the voice of the enemy, because of the pressure of the wicked; for they bring down trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me. My heart is in anguish within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling come upon me; and horror has overwhelmed me. And I said, ‘Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. Behold, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness. I would hasten to my place of refuge from the stormy wind and tempest” (Psa. 55:1-8).
David’s first instinct–and usually ours as well–in his dealing with his burdens was to run away (Jonah tried that too, only to encounter worse problems!). Then David tried to berate those who were causing problems and complained about them to the Lord (see verses 9,15,17). But this strategy didn’t bring satisfaction either. Finally, the Lord gave David the solution and he found the rest for which he had been so fretfully searching. David relates the solution to us in verse 22: “Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” The way to deal with problems, with difficult situations and difficult people, isn’t to flee from them or to fret about them, but is to turn them over to the Lord. The Apostle Peter may well have had that verse in Psalms in mind when he wrote this: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety (cares) upon Him, because He cares for you” (I Pet. 5:6,7). This is our “defragging” program–prayer, casting our cares on the Lord. When we do that He will show us what we need to do and what only He can do–and He will do it! The Apostle Paul’s advice was the same as Peter’s. He wrote this to the Philippian believers: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6,7). God gives us His peace, the peace which is part of His very nature, a peace which was undisturbed by circumstances, people, or things–even when the angels rebelled or man fell. Hey, that’s the kind of peace we need!
When my “defrag” program finishes running, it tells me what it has accomplished and then recommends that I do it every day to keep my programs running fast and efficiently. That’s pretty good advice for us too, spiritually. If we daily, in fact throughout each day, “cast all our cares upon Him,” our lives will run much more smoothly and efficiently. We won’t get to where we have to say: “Lord, I am scattered, restless, and only half here!”
Forever His,
Pastor Dave
Wisdom of The Week 