Thursday, November 1, 2018

Quaking Aspen

When I was growing up in Canada, my parents had a summer cottage on Bass Lake, about an hour south of Ottawa. Around the property there were what are called quaking aspen trees. They are so named because their leaves will flutter with just the slightest breeze, while the leaves on the other trees around them are not moving at all.

Sometimes I feel like a quaking aspen. People around me seem to be moving through life without issues or concerns, apparently secure and steady, while I seem to tremble at the slightest problem. I marvel that others can be so calm and tranquil while I struggle, fret, and worry. Thankfully, I can go to the Bible and find the calm assurance I need in times like that. Three times in Psalm 37 David says, “Fret not.”

“Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity” (verse 1).

“Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass” (verse 7).

“Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil” (verse 8).

With our trust in the Lord, we don’t have to be a quaking aspen, but more like the solid oak or maple.