Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green: in the year of drought, it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17: 7-8
Jeremiah was living life in disruptive times, not much unlike our times. His life spanned across some troubled times, and he was living right in the middle of it. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. He lived through crushing storms of hostility and furies of bitter doubt. Yet Jeremiah understood that his survival was rooted in his trust in God. I was recently asked to present a workshop for formerly incarcerated persons and asked a participant, “What makes you so strong”?
The question caught me off guard, but this passage resonated in my spirit as I paused and reflected. I responded, “You have got to plant yourself in the One who can provide the nourishment and substance you need to survive day to day.”
Not too long ago, a nasty summer storm came through my neighborhood. In our front and back yards were 30-foot pine trees. The storm caused one of the trees to fall on the house next door. I called for a tree service to come out and look at the remaining to see if they were stable or needed to be taken down. The foreman told me that this storm might have been a blessing saying, “ A tree that has never been in a storm is dangerous to climb… you can’t trust such a tree because its limbs are not dependable and the body of the tree is weak. But a storm shakes a tree at its very foundation. When the tree shakes, the ground around the roots loosens up, allowing the roots to go deeper. When the roots go deeper, the limbs begin to stretch out, and while the limbs are stretching out, the top goes higher and higher.”
Do you know what that means? Storms are not all bad. Some storms enable trees to grow three ways simultaneously: deeper, wider, and higher. I am reminded that we experienced storms in our lifetime. Storms provide opportunities to grow deeper, wider, and stronger because they require us to grab even tighter to the source of our strength.
A tree planted by a river can draw from the nutrients of the living water that seeps into the soil near its base. A tree planted by a river has ground that is willing to receive its roots so it can be strengthened and grow stronger. A tree planted by a river has a never-ending source of strength because the river never runs dry, even in times of drought. Jeremiah understood what we sometimes don’t. I always hear people say, “If only I had more faith.” But what makes faith valid is not “how much” we have, but in whom our faith resides. It’s not necessarily how strong our faith is as much as how strong the One is in who we believe.
What Makes You So Strong?
Grace, Peace, & Hope,
Chris
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