Whose Trust Is the Lord (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

Do you ever read a verse, a verse perhaps you have read many times, and you are stopped, stopped to go back and read it again, and once more? Sometimes, a verse really sticks out to us, and we know that we are not supposed to miss the message that God so lovingly wrote for His children, for us.  Some might say that God no longer speaks, but oh how He still speaks.  What a blessing that God’s voice is still active, and that the very Word of God, is at our fingertips!  This happened to me late last night with Jeremiah 17:7-8.

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.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord.”  That little word is stuck out to me and made me reread so I didn’t miss it, that little is.  I think it was this particular version that stuck out to me, “And whose trust is the Lord” and made me notice. Here are some what other translations say, “And whose hope is the Lord,” “whose confidence indeed is the Lord,” and “And whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord.”  What really stuck out to me besides that little is was that it was not followed by the word in.  Perhaps with the other words being different, like confidence and hope, following trust, I didn’t notice the missing in.  

            God is not just someone we can trust, someone we can hope in, someone we can be confident in. He is our trust. He is our hope. He is our confidence, our confident expectation. And the words that follow are a beautiful illustration of what our lives look like when we not only trust Him, but when He is our trust. We will be like a well-watered, well-rooted tree.  We are nourished and protected.  Hard times still come, but we can rest in Him because He is faithful.

2017 with Mercy

2017, another year, another word to focus on in seeking to learn and grow in my Lord. In December, I thought it’s almost the new year so I should probably start thinking and praying about what word I should focus on in the new year. I focused my mind towards prayer, and I got out the mental words, Lord what… “Mercy,” I heard in my mind before I even finished my silent prayer. Well, okay then.  Mercy it is.  I had recently read the book of Hosea. Hosea 6:6 says,

For I desire mercy and not sacrifice,

And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

At a time in my life with five active children at home, this homeschooling momma knew that mercy is definitely an area where the Lord can grow me.  Sometimes it is hard to remember that they are just children and are learning and growing.  Their attention spans can be short, they can forget expectations/ rules/manners, they can have bad days and bad attitudes, they can argue and fight, and they are in need of a merciful mother, displaying the love and mercy of the Savior.  Luke 6:36 says,

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

And those five children’s mother can be a bit hard on herself, as she often falls short. She/I am in need of mercy.  Praise God, His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22)! Praise God it is His mercy and love and grace that bring us eternal life! (Ephesians 2:4-5) He can definitely help us with mercy in each aspect of our lives.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ

(by grace you have been saved).

            When I’m going to study a word, I like to look at definitions and synonyms, other words that are used in different translations.  Mercy is also translated as steadfast love, loyalty, and compassion. It is defined as:

compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy,

or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence.

I remember learning in church as a teenager that grace is “getting what we do not deserve (unmerited favor),” while mercy is “not getting what we deserve (withheld punishment).” 

            I am looking forward to spending a year with mercy and all the Lord has to teach me and how He desires to grow me.  May you also have a very blessed 2017, full of mercy.  I’ll end with one more verse about mercy. Micah 6:8:

He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?

This is my goal for this year, to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God, only through His strength, and all for His glory!

            

Ending 2016 with Faith

My word to focus on in 2016 was faith.  I wrote a whole list of possible words to focus on during December 2015.  I prayed and asked God to let me know which word to pick. He gave me the word faith, a word that was not on my list, and the verse Hebrews 11:1, a verse I always thought was a bit hard to understand. 

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

I’m glad that I listened to what the Lord put on my heart and in my head. (No, I did not hear an audible voice.)  He taught me a lot, and He taught me that the more I learn, there is no need to become prideful with knowledge but ever more reason to become more humble as I learn how much more He has to teach me.

           

I wrote earlier in the year about how a third grader defined faith as “not doubting.” I agree that not doubting is definitely part of faith, that complete trust and confidence in our Savior, and we are told to have faith and not doubt (James 1:6), but we are also told to have mercy on those who doubt (Jude 1:22). Doubt can be defined as feeling uncertain or lacking conviction about something, which is definitely the opposite of the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1. So, how does doubt fit into my faith journey?  Did I have a crisis of faith? Did I let doubt slip in?

I have lived a life with faith from a very early age.  I cannot even remember a time without faith in Jesus.  I was blessed to grow up in a family that had passed down faith generation to generation, and I had become a Christian at an early age, by faith trusting Christ as my Savior.  I have spent my whole life holding on to faith as hard as I can.  Through every struggle and heartache in my life, I have told myself truth so I could hold onto faith.  I have tried to assure myself so I could hold it all together.

Why do I try, and try again

To hold on tight, to always win?

To hold it all together?

To never fall apart?

To reach so high, but not ever enough?

Why do I try, and try again

To reach some place never meant

For me..to reach…all on..my own?

I need to rest in You.

I need to trust You.

I need to stop, to stop trying

To hold it all together.

Because when I fall apart,

You will hold me in Your arms.

I need to stop, to stop trying

To hold it all together,

To hold it all together.

I need to rest in You.

I need to trust You.

For You are faithful, You are true,

You’re the only one

Who can hold it all together.

You hold it all together.

You hold it all together.

I can rest in You.

I will find rest in You.

I will rest in You.

Guess what I figured out?  I can’t always hold it together.  My faith in Him needed (and still needs) to be increased, and my faith in myself needs to keep decreasing (John 3:30).  And I need to rest, to rest in Him.

            And guess what I figured out about doubt?  Sometime doubt is the very thing that God uses to build our faith. In Matthew 14, we read the account of Peter walking on water, walking out to Jesus, who was walking on water, initially having faith and getting out of the boat, then letting fear and doubt slip in, and crying out for Christ to save Him.  We tend to talk about how he was able to walk on water (an amazing feat that took great faith), but how it was all ruined by his lack of faith that made him begin to sink. You know what is cool though?  When Peter cried for help, Jesus immediately stretched out His hand and took hold of him.  And then what happened? Everyone that was in the boat worshipped Jesus as God’s Son!  I bet that that doubt built Peter’s faith.  It helped him know that when he fell short, Christ was right there to pick him up.  Jesus said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Of course Jesus didn’t praise him for his doubt; there was no need to doubt because Jesus is completely trustworthy.  He reminded him of this, but He didn’t yell at him to just have faith and get back up while he flailed in the water.  Jesus loves us so very much.  He wants us to learn to trust Him.  He knows that it doesn’t just come automatically.  He knows what it will take to build our faith.  Sometimes we need to let ourselves question everything so that He can show us that there was no need to doubt. 

            God made us to seek out truth, to question and ponder, to search and find (Matthew 7:7).  He tells us in Proverbs 30:5:

           

            Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

Isn’t that cool?  We can ask questions and seek to know for sure, and His Word will prove true.  It won’t just be something passed on to us to accept without question.  It will be our own that He has shown us to be true.  And then, did you see it?  He is shield to us who take refuge in Him!  Remember what part of the armor of God (Ephesians 6:16) that faith is?  Our shield!

            Back to Hebrews 11:1 for a final reflection for this year:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

So what if we are not sure?  Let us ask the questions and seek the answer.  And praise God, He will open the floodgates of His love and mercy to show us all around us who He is! He will bless us with assurance and conviction, with FAITH!

And now onto another year and another word for focus, but faith will continue to guide me every year.

MESSIAH

M arked, He is set apart for the salvation of mankind.

E verlasting life He comes to give.

S avior, He has come for sinners.

S inners need a Savior.

I mmanuel, He is God with us.

A nointed, He is King of Kings.

H e is the Light. He is our Light.

Oh, place your faith in Him! And worship Him forever!

Praise God! Messiah has come!

Merry Christmas from the McLennans 2016.