If I Trust God…
What does trusting God actually look like?
Verse of the Day
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. 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.”
Today’s Devotional
(Praise the Lord. I am finally starting to feel like myself again after having Covid which turned into pneumonia. Hopefully this will be the last repeat from August 2020. I am grateful for my health and recovery and for everyone who helped us and prayed for us during this time. God uses His people to show His faithfulness.)
I love the mental images of the tree from this verse. I love the reminder of how much work goes on behind the scenes of any healthy living thing.
If I trust God, then I will be doing the things that feed my soul when times are good. I will be planting His truth in my heart and making those truths a part of who I am.
If I trust God, I will “plant” my life in a place that nourishes me. I will spend my time and resources doing the things that encourage my faith.
If I trust God, I will not wither at the first sign of difficulty. I will know that I live in a broken world with broken humans and that this life is not meant to be a vacation.
If I trust God, then the parts of me that people see will be pleasant, and kind, and giving. That does not mean that I am being fake. It means that my struggle and turmoil is between me and God. And in the midst of that, I will know that my purpose on this earth is to love God and to love others, which I cannot do if I am not shining the light of God and the joy of God to others.
If I trust God, I will not worry. Ouch. If I really trust God, and I read about the stories of the people in the Bible, I should expect that there will be seasons of “drought” in my life. Yet sometimes they still surprise me. God is faithful, and He reminds us of this truth when He delivers us from scary and painful things. For a tree, a drought forces it to send its roots deeper into the earth in search of water. So my trust in God should lead me to deeper levels of faith and my need for Him during difficult times.
If I trust God, I should be fruitful – even in the hard times. What does that mean? For me it means that I can still love God and other people even when I’m struggling. It means that I can have joy and gratitude, no matter the circumstances. It mean that I can still be useful to others.
I have this potted plant in my backyard. It needs lots of attention. At the first sign of any heat, it gets droopy. If it doesn’t get exactly the right amount of water, it just looks sad. Currently, it needs to be pruned. This plant is the exact opposite of the tree today’s verse is talking about. But I think I am more like my potted plant than I am the tree. Some days, any little thing can derail my day. Some days, my perspective is just off. So today, I am trying to be more like the tree, a person of stable and foundational faith. The beautiful thing about this is… God’s grace covers me even when I am like my potted plant; easily distressed, undernourished, worried and not very fruitful. And when God’s grace covers me, it builds my trust. Which makes me more like the tree.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How are you confident today in the Lord’s faithfulness?
What things can you be doing to build the roots of your trust in God?
What can you do to be ready for difficult seasons in your life?
If you are in a difficult season, how can you grow deeper in your faith and trust?
Are you doing anything to serve others?
How can you be fruitful today, no matter your current circumstances?