Epiphany 6

Preparation

    Please begin by reading Jeremiah 17:5-8 in your Bible. If you do not have one at hand, we have provided that text for you at the end of this reflection.

Reflection--Like a Tree Planted by Water   
  
    I remember the euphoria I experienced when I first encountered God’s presence in my life years ago. In my immaturity and inexperience, I felt that it would always be that way. Now that I walked with Jesus, everything would be joy and there would be no more hard times.

    Of course nothing could have been further from the truth. God never promises a smooth road of life with no bumps. Even God’s greatest, most faithful saints often had a hard time of it. (For a good example, have a look at Paul’s journey as he describes it in 2 Corinthians 11.)

    Since trouble is likely to come whether we have a strong relationship with God or not, what is the benefit of walking with God in our lives? The answer to that question lies in the answer to another question: Where are we rooted? How well we survive life’s difficulties depends on where we put our trust.

    Jeremiah captures this idea by using the imagery of two different trees. When trouble comes to men and women who are not rooted in God, they are like a stunted tree in the desert. They struggle like a dry shrub does, trying to hold on in a hostile atmosphere without nourishment to sustain them until better times. There is nothing that they can draw on in their desert place to give them strength. Their own strength, or the strength of other people they thought they could rely on, often turns out to be just so much sand.

    Trouble comes to people rooted in God as well, but they are in a much better place to get though it. Their roots go deep. Like a tree planted by water, they have something to draw on to keep them strong until the storm passes. Even in hard times, they continue to be productive, bearing fruit like Jeremiah’s tree planted by the water.

    In my long journey I have had the great privilege of walking along with a number of people during stormy segments of their lives. How they got through those storms proved again and again to be reliable barometers of their faith. Those who were not deeply grounded in faith often faced life’s problems in denial or fear or anxiety. Those who were rooted in God often amazed me with the grace with which they dealt with life, come what may. Even when they came to the end of their lives, some dying in the most difficult of circumstances, I have seem them remain fruitful; a blessing to all who came in contact with them rather than vessels full of self pity that blessed no one.

    So, yes, storms will come into your life. The question is will you be able to bend with the wind, drawing on the deep strength that comes from a solid relationship with God, or will you snap and break, like that shrub in the desert?

revclay

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Jeremiah 17:5-8  (NRSV)

Thus says God:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
and make mere flesh their strength,
whose hearts turn away from God.
They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see when relief comes.
They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.

Blessed are those who trust in God,
whose trust is God.
They shall be like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes,
and its leaves shall stay green;
in the year of drought it is not anxious,
and it does not cease to bear fruit.