Jeremiah IV
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. (Jeremiah 17:7,8 ESV)
Trust IS
I have a bad tree in my back yard. It is not the tree’s fault, really. It is too far from water, no streams or wells nearby. It stands on it’s own, and the heat of the sun bakes it, and when the rain doesn’t fall for a few weeks or months… we can almost watch it shrivel up. It has stopped producing apples… is rarely green… and looks terrible.
But what a tree Jeremiah describes! Planted close to nurturing water, roots drinking from a steady stream. No fear of excessive heat or drought. And guaranteed to bear fruit.
And while we usually read this passage as claiming that the process of becoming THAT kind of tree requires us to trust in the Lord… the Lord actually tells us a little bit more.
Trusting IN the Lord is good… but Jeremiah says that God’s people’s trust IS the Lord.
Because our ability to trust comes from Him.
Because it is not our trust that matters, it is the Lord that matters.
Because trusting brings us into relationship with Him, through Christ… and that relationship IS what makes great trees.
Trust IS the Lord!