Christians like Trees. Who bear fruit as they learn to trust | Dreaming Beneath the Spires
Christians like Trees. Rooted in trust and faith
Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Don’t you love this image of stability and permanance–a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, with leaves which do not wither, prospering in whatever it does?
To be like a tree, with deep roots, not moved and shaken by the winds of chance, adversity or even good fortune.
There is the opposite image in Jeremiah.
Jer 17:5 This is what the Lord says:“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,mwho depends on flesh for his strengthand whose heart turns away from the Lord.n
Jer 17:6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands;he will not see prosperity when it comes.He will dwell in the parched placeso of the desert,in a saltp land where no one lives.
Jer 17:7 “But blessedq is the man who trustsr in the Lord,whose confidence is in him.
Jer 17:8 He will be like a tree planted by the waterthat sends out its roots by the stream.sIt does not fear when heat comes;its leaves are always green.It has no worries in a year of droughttand never fails to bear fruit.”
It’s interesting to see how seriously God takes trusting in oneself rather than trusting in him. The one who trusts in flesh, himself, or in other people, is actually cursed, according to this passage. “He will not see prosperity when it comes.”
How many people do you know who are prosperous, but do not see prosperity, either through over-spending, through bad luck, or through fear, or miserliness?
But the one who trusts his dreams to God does not fear in a year of drought, its leaves are always green, he always bears fruit.
Trusting in God, of course, implies leaving our dearest dreams in his hands. He may say yes, bless and fructify them. Or, he may have other dreams for us.
