But Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Trustint in the Lord and making him your hope and confidence can often be two separate, deliberate actions. They are conscious decisions that we must make. When we make those hard choices to trust Him and make him our hope and confidence he has promised blessing.
Since trusting in the Lord for my salvation, there have been trials. In those times of trial and hardship, I’ve had to choose to make the Lord my hope and my confidence. It wasn’t always an easy decisions and my sinful nature often fought against making them, but I was blessed when I did.
This verse says that those who do so will be like trees along the riverbank with roots running deep into the water. How strong these trees must be! It says they are not bothered by heat or long months of drought.
There are times when the trials we face, that I have faced, feel like a hot, burning heat. Often these times in my life have been followed by long months of drought – a spiritual drought that seemed to drain my spirit. It is when we trust in the Lord and make him our hope and confidence in the times of HEAT AND LONG MONTHS OF DROUGHT that we can truly be blessed. Our leaves will stay “green” and our spirits will go right on producing fruit.
When Keith struggled in the pastorate and finally left the church, I endured the heat followed by long months of drought in my spirit. Sometimes it felt as if my faith would never fully recover. But I chose to make the Lord my hope and confidence and pressed on. Now we are serving in the ministry that we KNOW he has been called to.
When my twin girls were born prematurely and we went through so many ups and downs in their first months of life, I experienced a heat like no other followed by months of drought in my spirit. But I didn’t give up. I trusted in the Lord and made Him my hope and confidence. I have been blessed beyond measure by those two little girls!
When Keith deployed to Iraq the first time, again I experienced a smoldering heat and some time of spiritual drought. And again, I have been blessed by trusting in the Lord and making him my hope and confidence.
Now, my husband is deployed again, and this time I am eager to see what the Lord has in store for me. I want my life, my spirit to stay green and to continue producing delicious fruit.