5 The Lord proclaims:
Jeremiah 17:5-8
Cursed are those who trust in mere humans,
who depend on human strength
and turn their hearts from the Lord.
6 They will be like a desert shrub
that doesn’t know when relief comes.
They will live in the parched places of the wilderness,
in a barren land where no one survives.
7 Happy are those who trust in the Lord,
who rely on the Lord.
8 They will be like trees planted by the streams,
whose roots reach down to the water.
They won’t fear drought when it comes;
their leaves will remain green.
They won’t be stressed in the time of drought
or fail to bear fruit.
This year has certainly been off to a crazy start at Lifespring! I had a chance to serve as the MC for worship service last Sunday, and during worship I was reflecting on the events of the year so far. It almost feels like 6 months worth of events have been crammed into 1 month. So much has happened since the beginning of the year and we’ve faced many challenges. As I was doing some listening prayer about this last Sunday, Jeremiah 17:5-8 came to mind.
The passage seems to talk about two very different groups of people. The first group is described in verses 5-6. They are the kind of people who trust in human strength and their own abilities when they face trouble. Verse 6 says that even when good things come, they’re not able to receive it. They still act like a “desert shrub” even though relief came. This is contrasted with a second group of people described in verses 7-8. They are the people that have learned to trust in the Lord, and grow deep roots in God. Even when drought happens and difficult circumstances come, they don’t fear or become stressed. Somehow, they still bear fruit during the driest and toughest seasons of life.
I think God wants to encourage us as a Lifespring family to be part of the second group in this passage. That means a couple of things. First, it means learning not to depend on our own strength, especially when we go through hard times. When we face difficult circumstances, one of the most natural things to do is to try to solve our problems using our own abilities. We use our smarts, money, and skills to come up with solutions to our problems. We want to be independent people, people who can take our problems head on and deal with them. But in the end, the passage tells us that depending on human strength alone is a dead end.
Second, I think this passage reminds us to trust and rely on the Lord for strength. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been sharing updates with my life group about my dad’s time in the hospital and how I was personally dealing with the circumstances. What I shared is that during the past few weeks, I’ve actually been somewhat at peace during the whole process. During what was possibly one of the most stressful and trying times of life, I was able to find some peace. I asked God about this. I think the reason I could find some peace is because I was drawing strength from the Lord.
In the end, I wasn’t at peace because I was being strong or courageous about what was happening. In my own human abilities, it would have been so hard to deal with all the uncertainty of the situation. The reason I had peace is because I was drawing strength from all the people who were supporting us in prayer. I didn’t know what the outcome of my dad’s hospitalization would be. But one thing I was certain of is that I could trust and rely on the Lord, no matter what the outcome. I leaned on the prayers of others, and with the Holy Spirit it gave me strength during a difficult time.
As you face your own challenges in life, I encourage you to think about what it means to trust and rely on the Lord. Maybe that means sharing your concerns with others and asking for prayer. Maybe it means deciding to spend time with the Lord, even during the chaos of your challenges. Choosing the Lord during difficult times in life can make all the difference when it comes to facing trials with strength and courage that doesn’t come from ourselves, but from the Lord.