June 17 Planted in God / By: Patricia Raybon They will be like a tree planted by the water. Jeremiah 17:8
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Jeremiah 17:5–8 5 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD. 6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. 7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. 8 They 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 wind is tossing the lilacs.” With that opening line of her springtime poem “May,” poet Sara Teasdale captured a vision of lilac bushes waving in gusty breezes. But Teasdale was lamenting a lost love, and her poem soon turned sorrowful.
Our backyard lilacs also encountered a challenge. After having their most lush and beautiful season, they faced the axe of a hard-working lawn man who “trimmed” every bush, chopping them to stubs. I cried. Then, three years later—after barren branches, a bout of powdery mildew, and my faithless plan to dig them up—our long-suffering lilacs rebounded. They just needed time, and I simply needed to wait for what I couldn’t see.
The Bible tells of many people who waited by faith despite adversity. Noah waited for delayed rain. Caleb waited forty years to live in the promised land. Rebekah waited twenty years to conceive a child. Jacob waited seven years to marry Rachel. Simeon waited and waited to see the baby Jesus. Their patience was rewarded.
In contrast, those who look to humans “will be like a bush in the wastelands” (Jeremiah 17:6). Poet Teasdale ended her verse in such gloom. “I go a wintry way,” she concluded. But “blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,” rejoiced Jeremiah. “They will be like a tree planted by the water” (vv. 7–8).
The trusting stay planted in God—the One who walks with us through the joys and adversities of life.
Today’s Hymns: While I Wait
By Faith
Scriptures to Respond: Psalm 1:2-3 2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.Read full chapter John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Reflection: What do you know about God that stirs your trust in Him? How will you plant your trust deeper in His steadying soil and rely on Him entirely?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, when my life feels barren or buffeted by stiff winds, please plant me deeper in Your steadying love so that my faith will not be shaken.
Wong Wai Tung (Chief executive officer of The Great Wall Education Foundation) & Sam Chow (Administrative officer of The Great Wall Education Foundation) Reflection and prayer translated by Jenny Hung
