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.
that does not fear when the heat comes
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.
In pretty much any movie or book that includes a group of people traveling across either a desert or seemingly endless plains, at some point one of them will look up and say, “Look! Trees! That means there is water!” It might be a stream or a well, but whatever the water source is, the sight of those trees in the middle of miles and miles of miles and miles brings new energy to the group. The water their roots reach toward keeps them alive even in the midst of drought, when all the plants around with short roots have died. When the water table moves deeper, so too do the roots of the trees.
Trust in God is like that. Even when things seem to be all going wrong, just as the tree reaches more deeply toward the water we just reach deeper to find our life giving sustenance in God.
A friend was in a serious auto accident some years back. She had some injuries but nowhere near as bad as you would think from photos of the car. When she was talking about it later she said that, even when she saw the accident coming, even as the car spun and flipped off the freeway, she had confidence that everything would be ok. If she lived through it, God would help her recover. If she died, she would be with God. Either way, she would be ok.
There are times when it is really hard to remember that God is always right there for us. When things are going sideways - like now - we might wonder where God is in all of this. Why isn’t God doing something when around the world millions of people are dying in this pandemic? God is doing something - providing the scientists and doctors with the inspiration and intellect they need to find a cure and a vaccine, offering hope to the rest of us that they will succeed, giving strength to the health care workers who face unprecedented and unrelenting illness and death. God is right here, holding on to us when we need to be held and encouraging us when our courage runs out.
When we have confidence in God, then no matter what happens in our lives, just as the tree by the water survives drought, we will get through difficulties one way or another, and we will be ok, sustained by God’s life giving love.
Loving God, let us be like the tree near the stream, green and thriving in the knowledge of your loving care for us. Let us trust with confidence that you are always there when we need you, always ready to reach out your hand to uphold us in times of trial, for you are our God and we are your people. Amen.
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