The Effects of Fretting
May I confess something to you? The book of Leviticus is not my favorite reading material. Between the descriptions of priestly garments, sacrifices, offerings, laws, and feasts, it can be a bit tedious to read through. I often find my eyes glazing over and my mind drifting off. After all, none of this really applies to my life today, so is there anything to be gleaned from it?
As I began my reading through Leviticus again a couple of weeks ago, I found myself doing the same old thing—going through the motions but nothing else. Frustrated with my lack of attention and love for this portion of the Word of God, I prayed and asked God to open my eyes to life-changing truths. I didn’t know what—if anything—could impress me out of such a passage, but I pleaded with God to help me love every part of His Word, even Leviticus.
And you know what? I’ve seen some of the most exciting things—things I never noticed when I was just going through the motions. So, over the next few posts, I want to share with you a few of these eye-openers.
The first one comes from a chapter dedicated entirely to leprosy. Yeah, I know. Leprosy? Yep. I was reading along, and suddenly I came across an utterly foreign phrase. I understood the words making up the phrase (or, at least, I thought I did), but I did not understand how the two words went together. Is your interest piqued?
“And he shall look on the plague on the seventh day: if the plague be spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in a skin, or in any work that is made of skin; the plague is a fretting leprosy; it is unclean. He shall therefore burn that garment, whether warp or woof, in woollen or in linen, or any thing of skin, wherein the plague is: for it is a fretting leprosy; it shall be burnt in the fire.”
Fretting leprosy. What in the world? I read through those couple of verses, and I was intrigued. And, I discovered this phrase is only used three times in the Bible—twice here and once in the next chapter. After a little more digging, I found out the meaning of the Hebrew word translated as “fretting.” Check this out: “to pain, prick, or irritate; to be bitter or cause bitterness.” Whoa!
When I think of fretting, my mind pulls up words like worry and stress, and those are accurate descriptions along with anger, zeal, and jealousy. But, when I thought about this definition, I realized how appropriate it is because fretting does cause pain, irritation, and bitterness. It has never solved a problem or created a solution. Fretting doesn’t lead to a good night’s sleep or stress-free days. It doesn’t bring healing, and it is the complete opposite of calm.
Fretting irritates us. It makes us feel powerless, which creates bitterness in our hearts. It steals our joy and robs us of peace. And as much as we hate to admit it, our fretting affects those around us. In short, it’s a nasty thing—as bad or worse than leprosy. Where leprosy eats away at the body, fretting eats away at the soul, leaving us worn out and on edge.
So, what’s the solution? I know fretting is terrible, yet I do it all the time. I know how it affects me, but it seems to be my “go-to” when life is hard. So, how do I stop?
Well, with fretting leprosy, the affected person had to either wash or burn his garments (depending on how much the leprosy had spread). Then he had to go to the priest. While the priest did not have the means of healing such a dreaded disease, it was his job to determine how to deal with it. But we have a much greater Priest. One who has the power to heal. He can conquer the disease of fretting in our hearts. He can give us the strength to resist the temptation to fret about things. But best of all, He can listen and bear our burdens.
We don’t have to figure things out on our own. We don’t have to have all the answers. We only need to trust in the One who does. So, let’s go to God and expose our weakness—the fretting eating away at us. And let’s allow His love, grace, and mercy to wash away the pain and bitterness that’s settled into our souls.
Be clean today, my friends! There’s no need to fret. God has it all under control.