TREES AND TUMBLEWEEDS

Thus says the LORD, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD. For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is the LORD. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:5-8)

I’m not sure why, but I remember being a very new Christian almost 30 years ago and reading Chapter 1 of Jeremiah. As a very new believer, verses 4-10, really spoke to my heart. I was fascinated by the fact that the Lord knew Jeremiah before He formed him in the womb. I could relate to Jeremiah’s response to the Lord’s commission only because my heart also tends towards timidity and fear. I took God’s words to Jeremiah to mean that the message he was to speak were not going to be well-received, for the most part. Today, I find myself, once again, spending time with this beloved prophet. His message is still one that must be thoroughly chewed before it is swallowed, assimilated, and beneficial to my soul.

A quick glance at social media, the news, or any other form of media from which most Americans get their “facts” as a source of “truth” reveals a biblical truth which is that, for the most part, we are a cursed people living in a cursed nation. How can I say that? We are in the middle of a national crisis, a crisis that everyone has eyes to see. Where do you see the news media focusing their attention? The media is pointing the people to this man or that man to help us. Without mentioning any names, we, as a nation, are looking to this man for an economic solution or that man for a vaccine. But what does God say about that?

Growing up, I remember different times when adults spoke about unsettling circumstances concerning the welfare of our nation. After having watched them unfold and then be resolved with impressionable eyes, I learned to trust America. I would reason, “It will be okay. America always comes out on top in the end.” Soon after I became a Christian, I read mounds of books on prophecy and would warn family and friends of the trials that would one day come to our country. I remember a similar response from some who had fought for freedoms in our country, “We have the strongest military in the world. We will never be defeated.” We sing songs like, “I’m proud to be an American,” and it brings a lump to our throats. Don’t get me wrong. I’m thankful for every single American who has served and is serving this country for our freedoms—freedoms I will never, ever take for granted. But I’m really not talking about that. I’m talking about where we ultimately put our trust.

Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD. Most Americans would balk at this statement. Why? Because, speaking as a member of this generation, we trust in technology. (Well, some of us do. According to my kids, I’m hopeless to ever come to some sort of understanding in this category.) We trust that our economy will always support us, that man, through psychology, will always have answers for us as to why we are the way we are (and will give us an excuse to claim a victim status for ourselves), medicine (doctors and big pharma to drug us), government, military, etc. Why is this such a destructive kind of trust? God tells us NOT to trust man. Ephesians 2:1-2 says: And you were dead in your trespasses and sins (all believers before God saved them), in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. We know that Satan is the prince of the power of the air and controls the world order. We know that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Someone once said that even though our money says, “In God We Trust”, Americans really mean, “In Self We Trust.”

When we trust in flesh, whether it be that of our fellow man or ourselves, we are cursed because our hearts have turned away from the LORD. This should be a sobering truth for us. One of the major lessons the Lord taught me in prison had to do with human depravity—my own. For far too long, I had put a lot of trust in men, rather than God. I didn’t think I was, but when there was no one there to help me, I realized that I had looked to man for far too long. When nobody else was there to help me, God was there. From that point on, whenever man offered any type of help to me, I immediately turned to God to thank Him.  And I began to learn what it really means to trust God alone for everything.

The next verse, for those who have ever lived in or visited the desert, a clear picture may come to mind. I remember my first experience with a tumbleweed. My son was driving me to work, and all of a sudden, in the strong Santa Anna winds, a large bush blew out onto the path of our vehicle. I think I may have screamed just a little. Having lived in California for much longer than I had, my son took it in stride. He said, “Watch out for those when you are driving. You don’t want them to get caught up underneath your car because they can do a lot of damage.” Okay. Good to know.

I think of this lonely tumbleweed blowing around in the desert without life and without roots. Just a big glob of dead twisted branches attaching itself to anything it can (like my car, for instance). The bush has no roots to connect to any life-giving source. Even when the rains finally come, they will not be a blessing to it because it can’t absorb any water. Once the dry winds pick up again, it will continue to blow around lost and lonely. Remember the saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink?” Some people in this world are like tumbleweeds, they are dead, having no roots that would enable them to get or sustain life. In fact, tumbleweed people would rather die of thirst than to take a drink of life-giving water because that would be to admit they have to trust the one who is offering it.

We hate to be lonely. As I’ve said before, prison is a lonely place for most. While I was lonely for those people with whom the Lord has blessed me to love and cherish, He was there. Here’s the thing: If we put our trust in flesh, that flesh can be ripped from us. If we choose to rely on ourselves, we have chosen loneliness for ourselves, haven’t we? If we put our trust in the Lord, we will never be lonely. We will never be alone!

And, here’s the contrast with that dry bush. This next verse makes us think of Psalm 1. This man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust IS the LORD, will be like a tree planted by the water. He will have roots that can reach out to take a drink and absorb water from the banks of the rising river when the rains come. When the heat comes, this tree has no fear because it is close to the source of life. Its roots only grow deeper in search of the water it knows is nearby. It rests in the protection and tender care of its creator. Its leaves stay green because the supply of water will never dry up and will always be available.

Where is your heart? Is your confidence in God to keep you or man, including yourself? My mom embroidered me a blanket that said, “Bloom where you are planted.” Where are you planted? Do your roots go down deep? Blooms are inevitable! The fruit that the Lord produces through your life will be a life-giving source for those whom He brings into your path as He draws them to Himself.

I have so much to say (as always), and I may pick up with the next couple verses Monday, but I want to end with this thought. As believers, we all have seasons of spiritual drought…when we feel as though God is far away, and He is not listening to our prayers. Believe it or not, I DIDN’T have one of those seasons when I was in prison. I did, however, have a very lengthy one when I got out of prison. It was so bad that I found myself often longing for my prison all over again! Here’s what I learned, and I believe it was a very valuable lesson. I knew where the life-giving water was to be found. I had no hunger or thirst for spiritual sustenance, but I knew I needed it. So, I went to church. I went to Bible studies. I forced myself to stay in the Word. I was like a sick child who really wants no part of food but knows she must force herself to eat something. I took little bites and continued to cry out to the Lord to lift the cloud that had settled over my head. I was finally at my dream church, Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. I knew everything I was hearing was sound theology, yet it didn’t interest me. That scared me, so I did everything I knew to stay close to the Lord. In prison, there should have been clouds that blocked the light from me. Yet, I could see clearly and soaked up all the rays of the Son’s Light. When I got out of prison, one would think that it would be only clear skies ahead, but I had a hard time lifting my eyes further than my ceiling. During this time of spiritual drought, I now believe I was in a stage of processing everything that I had been through and had learned in my most recent “prison trial”. I was that tree planted by the stream during a major heat wave! I was not in a place where I could ever minister to anyone, and I knew it. So, I soaked in love, encouragement, and ministry from those whom the Lord put in my path. One day, the clouds lifted, and the roots of this tree were drinking again…deeply and eagerly with a thirst that only He could quench!