The Tree I Want to Be

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."

The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
who can understand it?

"I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind, 
to reward a man according to his conduct,
according to what his deeds deserve."

Jeremiah 17:5-10

I have been enjoying a bible study called she reads truth.

I have fallen off the wagon a bit and with no surprise I have also been struggling in my daily life. I find that if I am not digging into the word, even a little, every day, things start to fall apart. How many times will it take to learn this lesson?! While confiding in a friend how I have been feeling she asked, "Have you been doing your quiet time?" Oops. She asked the question, but she already knew the answer! 

Today I got back on board with She Reads Truth. The scripture printed at the top of the page is what our quite time was about. It could not have come at a better time. 

What a beautiful contrast between the man (or woman) who trusts in man and the man (woman) who trusts in the Lord. 

The man (woman) who trusts in man (or other woman) for strength has a heart who has turned from the Lord. This tells me we can not both depend on man and have a heart for the Lord. They can not and do not go together. She is likened to a bush in the wastelands where no one lives. That she can not see prosperity (good fortune) when it comes. That it will come, but she will not recognise it. 

This is not the kind of woman, wife and mother I want to be. I can not make a difference if I am planted somewhere that is 'parched' and where no one lives. How can I influence others for Christ (most importantly my children) if no one wants to be around me? I do not want to be someone who has so much fortune and prosperity, but can not and will not recognize it!! 

The woman who trusts in the Lord has a much better feel to it. She is blessed. She is likened to a tree planted by the water. She sends her roots out to the stream. She has taken up residence near Christ, knowing he will be the one who will sustain her. She digs into Gods word and truly knows him so that when the heat comes, because it will come, she will always have green leaves. If we have deep roots in Christ, even when that stream gets low on water, we will not wither. A plant with superficial roots, a women who 'knows' God but does not truly desire a relationship, will wither with the first sign of heat. But a woman who knows God, truly knows him, with deep roots in him, can withstand the drought. And not only will she withstand the drought, she will continue to bear fruit! A streams water level is not always consistent, but it is always there. God is our stream. He is always there. At some times in our life the water level will be high and we can bear fruit easily. We may hear his voice loud and clear during these times and there may be little struggle. Other times the water level will be lower and it will take more work to produce that fruit, but it will be there- because we truly know him! 

The catch to all this is that we need to have deep roots before the drought. We need to put our confidence in the Lord before the hard times. I encourage you dear ladies, start to plant yourself near the stream now, dig those deep roots now!


"But the fruit of the Spirit is 
love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. 
Against such things there is no law."

Galations 5:22


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

5 Min Friday- One Month

5 Min Friday- Listen