Divine Agitation

“Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.” (Eze 16:43 AV)

 

That word ‘fretted’ is a really cool word.  As a guitar player, it makes a whole lot of sense.  The long slim board of which the strings run the length is called a fretboard.  The little brass bars are called fret bars.  The board does nothing other than act as an anchor point for your fingers to construct chords or adjust the frequency of the note played.  The board or bars do not cause the sound of the strings.  All they do is adjust that sound.  The string is struck or plucked which causes agitation in the string.  This agitation is where the sound comes from.  The board and bars are associated with fretting not because they cause it.  Rather, because that is what is happening to the string or strings along the length of it.  In short, fretting means to agitate.  When reading the above verse, I cannot be but struck with the reality that God can fret.  In many passages of the Bible, fretting is a sign of weakness.  Anxiety, mainly, is the cause of such a fret.  There is also envy or lust that causes fretting.  But when I read that God can fret, this jumped out at me.  It is possible to cause God agitation because of our actions, or lack thereof.

When I think of God fretting, I am reminded of parenting a difficult child.  Such a one can drive you almost insane.  I cannot think of any of my children to which you could refer as difficult.  That doesn’t mean there was not a time or two when I was agitated.  Each one had their ‘thing’.  There were parts of their temperament that stretched my patience.  There were times when irritation was the automatic response.  At that time, patience was in short supply.  Usually, agitation came at the end of repeated correction or instruction that simply was not settling in.  Perhaps it was a school lesson.  Maybe it was correction for an error in behavior.  Maybe it was the simple task of trying to communicate.  No matter the cause, agitation does come.  Sometimes that agitation lays squarely on the shoulders of the parents.  Sometimes, on the child.  What is common with agitation is the absence of patience.  This is not always a bad thing.  Sometimes agitation is the motive that finally crosses the abyss of correction.  When our child sees that we are clearly agitated, then he or she tends to take the issue a bit more seriously.  What they do not want is for agitation to turn to frustration and then to exasperation.  Anger is usually the result.  My children knew when they were pushing the envelope.  They knew when Dad was a bit agitated.  They were also aware of that agitation was out of balance with their faults or was exacerbated by them.  If I was having a bad day and their minor fault caused irritation, they could pick up on that and didn’t take it personally.  However, if they could tell my agitation was primarily caused by their behavior, then they did reflect.

I found it interesting that God can be irritated with us.  He can become agitated.  He can lose patience with us if we do not listen and obey.  In one sense, this is a comforting thought.  To know the LORD loves me enough to be agitated or irritated when I behave like a child means that He cares enough to want to see me change.  When He runs out of patience with me, He is saying He has so much more for me, but I frustrate His plans.  On the other hand, I need to take it personally when the LORD has run out of patience.  When I was a child, I would rather take a spanking than see that look on my mother’s face that said, “I have had it with you and don’t want you near me right now.”  Chastening is much easier to take.  Having someone you love reject you, even if it is temporary, hurts deeply.  To know that I can frustrate, aggravate, or irritate my LORD is troubling.  The rebel does not care.  He sees it as a challenge.  But for those dear saints who desire an intimate relationship with God in obedience and faith see those times when they disappoint their God as times of deep hurt.  Not towards God necessarily, but in their own hearts.  To think of Jesus looking on us as He did on Peter when Peter denied Him is to see Jesus with a look of agitation, frustration, or irritation.  To know that God can and does fret over us should change who and what we are.  Bless the LORD for His patience and His wonderful mercy towards the children of men.