Thirsty or Thriving?
I ran across a verse the other day that intrigued me, and when I read back a few verses for the context, I found myself face-to-face with a contrast. This contrasts was given by God to help His people see the two options that really characterize His whole communication with His people during this phase of history, but also to us today. Here is the whole passage:
“Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.” Jeremiah 17:5-8
The first option is to trust man, to rely on human strength, and to “depart from the Lord” in our hearts. When we put people in the place of God, and make fallible, limited human nature and strength the focus of our dependence and trust, it will always prove empty and even destructive. When we depend on someone who doesn’t come through for us, or proves unreliable, or even malicious, it leaves us feeling unrooted, unfulfilled, empty and alone. Spiritually, life without God, relying on our own strength or the strength of another person will always leave us parched, to the point that we don’t even recognize the good God pours out on us.
When disappointed or betrayed, we tend to see dependence on God through the lens of the failure of the human objects of our dependence. But God is infinitely faithful and dependable, just as He is loving and good.
As this passage points out, those who choose instead to depend wholly on God are rooted, nourished, and see the goodness of God even in the midst of times of great need. I think it is significant that God did not choose to say that there would not be drought, only that the tree would not be careful, or worried, in the year of drought. Trusting God doesn’t mean we are immune from trouble or difficulty, but it does mean that we have His wisdom, goodness, and provision on which to lean as we face it.
But just like the Israelites, you and I today face a choice: are we going to depend on God and thrive in His goodness and faithfulness, or are we going to depend on human strength and find ourselves thirsty and languishing in the desert of disappointment?
Jeremiah’s own response to this is found a few verses later in the passage:
“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for Thou art my praise.” v.14
Jeremiah chose to trust, to depend, and to make God His focus.
Dear Reader, how is it with you today? Are you feeling hurt or betrayed by a human object of dependence? Has someone let you down in a way that has damaged your view of God’s faithfulness? Remember, God is not like us. He will never betray or abandon us. (Hebrews 13:5-6) No matter what anyone else does, He is and will aways be unfailingly good and unalterably faithful.
What is there in your life that God wants you to depend on Him for? Is the Holy Spirit showing you an area in which your trust is in a person instead of in God? Run to Him, depend wholly on Him, and thrive!
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”Proverbs 3:5-6