“Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:5-8)

This week I have been thinking a lot about what it means to trust in God. It seems we humans live in a state of almost continual flux. Have you noticed how many situations and areas of our lives can suddenly change or begin to change, leaving us in an uncertain state about our futures? Health, employment, relationships in and out of the church, residence, marital status, the arrival and leaving of children, it seems like the list goes on and on. The changes that occur in our lives almost always take the form of some process, whose final state is unknown at the outset. We can generate much stress in our minds and lives by our responses to these changes, or we can experience God’s peace and spread His love to those around us in the fluid situations of our lives.

Looking at the few verses above, readers can learn some things about trust. Trust can only be given to one entity or another. Just as we can only have one Master, as Jesus explained in Matthew 6:24, the same is true here. The heart of a person goes where the trust is. Our affections, our priorities declare where our trust is. Jeremiah does not speak with diplomacy in the passage, as he states that the person who trusts in or puts his confidence in man is cursed. He describes this trust as making man or ‘flesh’ his strength. One way of understanding this phrase could be that a person who makes flesh his strength is choosing to address a problem in the way that makes the most sense to him, is the most logical from his own point of view. The problem with doing that is most often, our perspective on a problem is not correct because it is limited.

Trying to solve a situation while not having a grasp on the whole picture can be disastrous. For a biblical example of this consider Abraham’s wife, Sarah. God had promised them a son, but it had been years and there was no child coming. Sarah took note that neither she nor Abraham were getting any younger, they were past child bearing years. Not understanding God’s power or His plan, she then decided to place her trust in herself. She stepped outside of her authority and gave her handmaid to Abraham as his wife. The negative results of this decision based on trusting human logic continue with us today. Imagine the peace that would have resulted if Sarah had chosen to trust God!

In the passage from Jeremiah we see a contrast in depth and endurance between trust in man and trust in God. Just as the sagebrush in the southwest dries up, separates from its dead roots, and bounces along with the breeze, with pieces breaking off where it strikes the rocks in the way, so, the sources men and women choose to trust when they stop trusting in God are temporary. Some of those things include our looks, our talents, our money, our parents, our spouse, our children, our hobbies, our toys, and our professions. In my nursing work with the elderly I have had much opportunity to consider this. The lonely, solitary woman in the retirement home was not always old and confused and lonely. She may have been a professor at a university, highly respected for her education. She may have had a loving husband and children, a fine home, she may have been athletic, a world traveler. And yet, all of these things have left her now as she sits alone and dependent, waiting to meet God in death. I have known many elderly people who had lives considered successful by worldly standards, now feeling useless and angry for every day they continue to draw breath, because none of those past things mean anything to them. It reminds me of the words of the Preacher in Ecclesiastes 12:1-8.

The book of Psalms begins with a passage sort of similar to the one we started with in Jeremiah. David wrote, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” (Psalm 1:1-6)

In this set of verses again is the concept of choosing one side or another, giving allegiance to wickedness or righteousness based upon where we spend our time, and there being consequences for that choice. Our affections, our delight is displayed by the type of “counsel” we keep. During long term struggles or changes are we in the peanut gallery, lobbing continual criticism into situations we do not know the truth of, or do we keep our minds and hearts in the law of the Lord, seeking more wisdom from Him on how to respond? I think of David, who penned so many of the Psalms. He was unjustly pursued by a mentally ill king for two decades! In scripture we are told of at least two opportunities he had to kill Saul. It would have been the logical thing to do, and certainly would have made David’s life so much easier. Reading of his flight from one place to another seeking safety, the never ending uncertainty of whether Saul would accept him or kill him, would we in David’s place have been able to trust God’s promise enough to continue to obey God’s law not to kill the anointed one? How many of us would not rather have rationalized that there couldn’t be any purpose to continuing this and just killed Saul? And yet, if David had done that, would God have blessed him the way he did?

I hope in these rambling thoughts, these few peeks into scripture, you have received some encouragement to keep trusting God. I hope you will look in to God’s word to see the many examples of the full blessings that came to those who trusted Him and allowed their lives to unfold according to God’s plan.

Teresa Strickler