don’t worry, be happy

Psalm 37:1-5 – Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb.  Trust in the LORD, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.  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 act.

Don’t worry, be happy.  Easier said than done.  Too often we fret over the wicked bullies.  Why do they do the things they do? How do they get away with such evil things?  What did we do to deserve this?  How do we stop their wave of destruction?  Sometimes it feels like there is a cosmic game of wack-a-mole at play in our world.  One source of evil pops up, and we try to wack it down, but another one pops up.  The more we wack, the more they pop.  It’s exhausting and unending.  And wickedness don’t seem to fade like grass, but take over like kudzu.  It’s everywhere, and almost impossible to uproot.

The psalmist points us another way.  Trust God and do good.  Take delight, and God will give you the desires of your heart.  This isn’t to say that evil doesn’t exist, but that we don’t need to be part of it and give it our energy.  Fretting over why someone is so mean and destructive does not make them less mean.  It just saps our energy for goodness and light.  When we become God’s light in the world, and shine in the midst of darkness, the light overcomes the darkness.  And as we shine, we light a path for others to escape the darkness and add to the light.

So make your own little corner of the world the best it can be.  Be kind to everyone you meet, and treat them as you would want to be treated.  Live this day with joy, embracing the abundance of life!  Be the change you desire in the world.  Evil will always be around you, and there are times you have to confront evil.  But worrying about evil is wasted energy and detracts us from our mission.  Trust in God, commit to the holy path.  Skip and be joyful as you go!  Evil will wither and run out of energy if we don’t feed it.  Take delight and gain the desires of your heart.