Confidence

I wish perfect words existed. I try to hold onto the truth. I often find my mind incapable of grasping what it means to have faith--to put my confidence in the Lord. These words help keep it simple for me.

This is what the LORD says:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.

He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."

-Jeremiah 17:5-8

Today I am thankful that God doesn't just use words. He uses a tree, and a desert, and a stream. Me makes it as real as I am capable of grasping it.

These words are a warning against any placement of value on the things I can do. They warn me not to even depend on my understanding. They tell me not to turn away from God, and they ask me to rest in his grace.

I picture the scene of the green tree surrounded by dry brown grass. And I say in my head, good job God. Not, good job tree, way to put your roots down there. Way to go God. It was really smart of you to make that possible.

I am thankful that every word tells me not to fear. Do not claim responsibility for your life. just don't run from his love. Do not try to know more than him, or be more than he commands. Do not try to build yourself into something different.

If a tree can be shepherded, we should be shepherded trees. The shepherd shows the path to the nourishment, and provides protection. The shepherd sees the world (sorry animal-lovers) from a higher frame of reference. And in this case we learn that God's instructions for us are simplified to what is essential for us as broken beings. We cannot see things clearly now. We cannot understand everything that has been planned. But we can be loved and be nurtured, and we can through the treeherder's grace, live and grow and bear fruit.

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