Planted

Today's Bible Reading: JEREMIAH 16:1-18:23, 35:1-19

Jeremiah 17:7-8

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Here is good news for us when we become fearful or anxious about our life. This condition confronts all of us, affecting some with greater intensity and impact than others, but we all have experienced these feelings. When we are overcome by these kinds of thoughts and emotions we can easily slip into a funk that is hard to break free from. When it hits us, we can’t eat or sleep and lack the desire to do anything. We can relate to David who says, “My tears have been my food day and night . . . (Ps 42:3).

Our text brings hope to the forefront. The Lord sets forth two responses to our condition and the results of our choice. In our struggles He says we can either trust man or trust Him. Our outcome is based on the option that we choose. The one who chooses to make the “flesh his strength” will find themselves in a “cursed” condition (Jer 17:5), but the one “whose hope is in the Lord” will find themselves “Blessed”. So the choice is yours. What you chose determines your course.

The results are distinctly different. The one “whose heart departs from the Lord” and chooses to trust man is likened to a desert shrub. They will be void of the sustenance necessary to survive in their parched place in the wilderness. Their rejection of the Lord and their reliance on man has left them to themselves withered and without. It has left them incapable of thriving where they have been planted.

In contrast, the one “who trusts in the Lord” is liken to a fruitful tree planted in fertile soil. They abound in everything needed to survive and thrive. Their roots continually and consistently draw water from the river they are planted beside. Their leaves remain green and vivacious filled with the nutrients necessary to grow and flourish.

There are three things mentioned that the one “whose hope is in the Lord” need not fear. They don’t need to fear extreme heat, extended drought and empty fruitless branches. When their trust is in the Lord in their crisis, they are calm, content and confident in Him.

Consider the results of trusting man verses trusting God. The “cursed” man remains in the despair and defeat that life has brought upon him. His funk remains. But the “blessed” man who places his trust in God has broken free from His fear and anxiety that was caused by what life had dealt him. His funk is replaced by a flourishing and fruitful condition. It matters where you are planted.

Today thank the Lord for the blessedness that follows those who are firmly planted in His fertile soil. Ask the Lord to help you to continually place your trust in Him rather than in man. Thank Him that those who trust in Him will flourish and "not cease to bear fruit.”