For the next few weeks I will be sharing a series called ‘How to Walk This Road: Meditations from Scripture’. It will highlight some of my favorite passages from the Bible. My heart is to share the ways my story, in all of its broken days and ways, has been anchored by the God of the Bible. Whether you know the Bible or not, I trust there is something wonderful here for you! Hope grows here 🙂
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
Jeremiah 17: 7-8
I sat along the bank of the Yellow Breeches. It was during my days at Messiah College. I was taking an art class and painting the only painting I would ever paint. As I chose the various blues, greens, yellows and oranges, I meditated on these verses above which had struck me profoundly.
I remember speaking passionately to my farmer father about this tree. ‘Dad can you imagine having no fear for crops, or anything living, in intense heat? Can you imagine, as a farmer, not being anxious in a year of drought?’ He shook his head ‘no’ and I had to agree. Yet, I wanted a life which proved these verses in Jeremiah to be true.
And I still do.
How could I know, with those stars in my eyes way back then, what it would mean to become a tree planted by water? This tree sends out its roots by the stream. In the deepest most essential places, it is receiving its vital nutrients no matter what comes.
A few nights ago, as I was sharing with some friends about what I believed God is making me to be, I used this analogy. I said I could see how God was planting my roots deep and fertile by the water. And in so doing, He was making me tall and strong with branches reaching far around me. All of this was to spread abroad His hope.
Yet, oh the journey. I have been broken, broken, broken by this life. I have lifted my branches amidst dry cracked ground unable to sustain itself. The roots of my existence have withered, nearly all. But, too, it is precisely here I have experienced the most hope. I been able to truly feel the promise of new roots. From death to life, I have seen my tree grow.
But how, how does this happen? Psalm 1 uses this same imagery. Here, we get to the heart of having roots that do not fail. We become a living tree by streams through ‘meditating on the law of the Lord day and night.’ Those new roots we grow are the truth of God being implanted deeply within us. This is why I have begun this series–to remind myself, and you, where our strength and anchor lies.
In the coming weeks, I will share some of my most precious passages from the Bible. They have lifted my downcast head, inspired my life, wrapped their life-giving arms around me, and completely sustained me at the heart of devastation.
And I want this life for you, friend. If God can bring me life amidst hospital stays and a diagnosis of bipolar order, he most definitely can for you!
Believe him for this with me?
