Two Trees
Blessed is the man that trusts in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat comes, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. ~Jeremiah 17:7-8
I love this mental picture. The person who completely trusts the Lord and hopes in Him is compared to a carefree tree planted by a river, soaking up the perfect amount of sun and water. Its leaves don’t wither and it doesn’t stop producing the fruit that it was created to produce. It’s like it’s oblivious to everything else that’s happening in the world.
I find that when I am totally trusting God, I feel irresponsible. I wonder if I really understand the brevity of a situation. But that is where God wants us. He wants His children to go about their daily tasks and trust Him to deal with the things that they cannot alter anyway.
You’ve heard it said that you can’t change anything by worry while others think that worry must work since the things they worry about never happen. Whichever way you look at it, I would rather not waste time worrying. I know that my Heavenly Father watches over me so I have no reason to fear.
In contrast stands a tree on which our Savior was crucified. This was not a tree that was full of life; the sole purpose of this tree was to bring death. In dying on a coarse, rugged tree, Jesus would give us life like the tree planted by the water. In my mind’s eye, I see the confused look on a multitude of faces as the sky turned suddenly dark in the middle of the day. There was nothing good about this day. His mother cried. His disciples were perplexed. Had they been deceived like so many others who followed a false prophet and now the last three years of their lives were wasted? I expect that thoughts like these were running through their minds but, thanks to God’s Word, we know the end of the story. It’s only Friday now, but Sunday is coming!
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