April 17: Roots by the Water
You’ve spent a long time trying to hold everything together on your own, and you’re tired.
“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”
Jeremiah draws two pictures in this chapter. Just before these verses, he describes a bush in the desert, dry and alone, in a salt land where nothing grows. That’s the person who trusts in human strength. Then he describes a tree planted by the water, with roots running down to the stream.
Here’s the thing about that tree. The heat still comes. The drought still comes. Jeremiah doesn’t say the tree avoids hard seasons. He says it doesn’t fear when heat comes, its leaves stay green, and it doesn’t stop bearing fruit, because its roots go somewhere deeper.
As you work through the fear part of your inventory, a pattern often shows up. So many fears trace back to self-reliance. If you depend only on your own strength, your own planning, your own ability to control people, then of course you’re afraid. You know how limited you are.
Drinking was its own kind of self-reliance. It was a way to manage feelings without asking anyone for help, including God.
Trusting God doesn’t mean doing nothing. The tree still grows. You still go to work, pay bills, show up for your family. But the source is different. You’re drinking from a stream you didn’t dig.
What does that look like in practice? Prayer in the morning, asking for direction for the day. A call to someone in recovery before a hard decision instead of after. Admitting when you don’t know. Letting other people help you.
Look at your fear list today. For each fear, ask: where have I been relying only on myself here? Then ask: what would trusting God look like in this one?
One thing today
Go through your fear list. Next to each fear, write one small way you could trust God with it this week. Pick one and do it today.
A prayer
God, I’ve been trying to hold everything up by myself. I’m dry and worn out. Plant me by Your stream. Teach me to trust You, so that when the heat comes, I won’t be afraid. Amen.
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