Blessed Is The One Who Trusts In The Lord

I had a dream recently and in the dream I got married. Later on in the dream, my husband drove up to the house where I was and I ran out to meet him and hugged him in the driveway. It was definitely cheesy, but the most notable aspect was the emotion I felt in the dream, the happiness of knowing this man was my husband. Then I woke up. Sometimes the mood of a dream stays with you all day. But because I woke back up to reality, not having a husband, the mood was disappointment, ache, and longing. It was fear that it might never come true. It was a questioning of why God hadn’t given me that blessing yet. I felt derailed from my trust in God’s care for me. I couldn’t help thinking that I would be better at writing the story of my life. All because of a silly dream.

Shortly afterwards, I came across Jeremiah 17:5-9: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

Jeremiah was a prophet to the kingdom of Judah right before and during the exile to Babylon. Judah was past the point of no return and Jeremiah was sent to proclaim to them their impending judgment. Judah had broken God’s covenant and turned to idols. Speaking out against them was no easy task for Jeremiah, but his commission was to speak God’s words and leave the fallout in God’s hands. God wanted his people to know that they had turned away from him and what it looked like to trust in him.

In the passage above, notice this is a direct quote from God. There are two paths: trusting in man or trusting in God. God says that he who trusts in man is cursed. Trusting in man might be trusting in yourself or putting your happiness in the hands of another person. It is gaining strength from either your own resources or from someone else’s. Notice that to do this is to turn away from the Lord. There is a subtle but important difference between looking to the Lord for his provision and receiving that provision through earthly means, and turning away from the LORD and demanding that provision from earthly sources. It comes down to acknowledging who the giver really is.

So if my heart turns away from the Lord and tries to find strength elsewhere, the passage says that no good can come from that. I will not get what I am seeking. It’s like a plant eking out its existence in the desert, and not only the desert, but in a parched land in the middle of nowhere with such salt content that it is uninhabitable. What a striking picture! What I need desperately to survive is God’s provision, and what a plant needs is water. When I go to myself or others to try to find provision, it’s like a plant putting roots down in a barren wasteland.

Look at the contrast in the next verses. God goes on to describe the man who trusts in the Lord, but not only that, whose trust is the Lord. I think this means that the man not only knows that his needs will be met, but when he looks to the Lord he knows his needs are already met in him. What a beautiful trust. So this man is not a shrub, he’s a tree. And the tree is not in a parched place, it’s next to a stream. Its roots are connected to the stream so it has a constant source of life. Even in the heat, it keeps its vibrant green leaves, and even in the drought, it bears fruit. If I trust in the Lord, his provision will never fail me. Even in the heat and drought, I will be thriving and productive.

Now I have to be honest, when I first read and meditated on this, my heart chaffed against it. Let me explain. If the first scenario describes a desert, I wanted the second scenario to be a lush rainforest paradise. But both scenarios have heat and drought. In my current season of life, my singleness sometimes feels like the “year of drought.” And God doesn’t say, “If you trust in me, life will go smoothly and you’ll have everything you want when you want it.” I didn’t like it. But that’s why the next verse about the heart being deceitful and sick was so convicting for me. I saw my heart resisting how God’s design and had to repent of that. 

If I lived just for my own pleasure, I could maybe find some temporary ease and comfort, but in the end, I would die of thirst. In obedience to the Lord, I will experience times of temporary heat and drought, but I will always have enough water to persevere. I’ve been encouraged by David Mathis’ thoughts on Jesus’ obedience in The Christmas We Didn’t Expect, saying “Jesus’ obedience did not spell the end of his happiness; nor will ours. Rather his obedience was the death of everything that would have kept him from full and lasting joy.” By looking to God and shunning what draws us away from him, we are not depriving ourselves, but are actually pursuing joy.

Back to my longing for a paradise existence and pouting about the desert. It dawned on me while sitting in church one Sunday that paradise is where I am headed. Someday that will be my reality, face to face with Jesus. But this life was never meant to be that. And for the Christian, the heat and drought (or let’s call it suffering) are not just meant to be endured. We don’t just keep our faith in spite of the suffering. But the suffering actually refines and beautifies our faith. 

Suffering has a purpose - to push us to lean more heavily on God and less on ourselves and this world. Even when we feel stuck or everything feels hard, God is using those very things for our good. There is nothing in your life that is outside of God’s care and purpose if you’re trusting in him. But if you are trusting in yourself or another person for provision in any area, you will never succeed. Your trust and your effort will never bring satisfaction if your heart has turned away from the Lord. So sister, put your trust in the Lord; he is worthy of it. Surrender to him any area where you have been holding back that trust, and watch his provision. Watch him build your faith and intimacy with him through the desert, and keep your eyes on the hope of the day when you will see him face to face.