Trees and bushes

McDonald’s Forest Preserve, April 20, 2017

Today

Friday. Open your eyes. This is your life, your thoughts, your decisions, your dreams, your moves. You may, today, make a good choice, and yet, on the other hand, you make a bad one. Or, a decision is made that is out of your control and you are forced to live with the ramifications or consequences. Life. We love to watch television shows, sitcoms, movies amplifying circumstances.  We read books that seem to resonate with our lives, our thoughts, our actions. Or we read and watch books/movies/TV that have NO touch with reality to take us away from real life.

Real life is hard. Real life with all of its thoughts, relationships, heartaches and trials hits us wave after wave and we wonder.

If we are honest with ourselves though, truly honest, no character in any format has ever lived up to the perfection we hope. You must understand that as I type this I am surrounded by books in my room, each room in my house has piles of books. I have kindles full of books. I love movies. I am a Brit Lit snob. Why? I suppose because I have always loved the Mr. Darcys, Mr. Rochesters. Always. I listen to books narrated by Kenneth Branagh, because of his voice and because he was my favorite Hamlet. I could go on.

My point? It would be easy to put my trust in things, put my trust in or hope on dead stuff. Think that sounds silly? Really? We put our trust all over the place. We place it in money. In relationships. In people. In… you name it for yourself. If it isn’t Jesus, it’s dead stuff. And it’s gonna fail you. It’s gonna fail me.

What I’m Studying

Jeremiah 17

⁵ 
Thus says the Lord,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in and relies on mankind,
Making [weak, faulty human] flesh his strength,
And whose mind and heart turn away from the Lord.
⁶ 
“For he will be like a shrub in the [parched] desert;
And shall not see prosperity when it comes,
But shall live in the rocky places of the wilderness,
In an uninhabited salt land.

Harsh words. I know. Cursed doesn’t really roll off the tongue pleasantly and make you hum a merry tune. I get it. Understand Jeremiah’s sting. Understand the Lord’s violent word here. Walk away from putting your trust in man. Don’t place your trust in weak flesh. It’s not strong. In the end, your mind and heart will turn from HIM. Then you are given a word picture, shrub. I know this shrub. I’ve got one on the side of my house. I hate it. It’s right in my neighbor’s share of the yard. Ugly. It never grows properly, it’s all gangly and icky. Final word? Placing trust here? Empty wasteland.

⁷ 
“Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord
And whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord.
⁸ 
“For he will be [nourished] like a tree planted by the waters,
That spreads out its roots by the river;
And will not fear the
But its leaves will be green and moist.
And it will not be anxious and concerned in a year of drought
Nor stop bearing fruit

Bless: בָּרַךְ bârak, baw-rak’; a primitive root; to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit);

Spiritual security. Everything in these verses has so much more comfort for me. Blessing for us is so much more. When we hope and place our confident expectation in the Lord, we are blessed. Here’s what comes in my mind, right away. What about when all the trials and tribulations hit? Where is God then? Why does He allow bad to happen to me?

Let the text answer. IF my hope and confident expectation is in the Lord, I will be nourished like a tree planted by waters (I know what that looks like too…). I don’t have to be afraid with the heat (trial after trial comes), my roots are deep. My knowledge is IN HIM. I know the word. I know what the text says. I keep coming back to the truth. SO when the year of drought bangs at my door, I do not need to be anxious or concerned. My God will provide for all my needs. For your needs. for your cares. He sees you, right where you are. Don’t you believe the lies that you are alone and nobody cares. It’s not true. It never was true.

Blessings.