The Tree and the Bush

Passage: Jeremiah 17:5-10

Key Verse:

“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (v.9- NASB)

My heart has been broken numerous times. I know that this is true to most everyone. As long as your heart is beating, it is a fact that it will be broken at some point in time. Friends come and go, loved ones leave our lives. Promises are broken, lies are told and dreams are shattered. I’ve felt sick to my bones with the pain of separation, loneliness, betrayal. I don’t think I’m alone on this.

When I think about each time that my heart was broken, there is always one element that keeps showing up: a human being. Whether it was a friend, a boyfriend, a family member or a co-worker, people will break your heart. And it goes both ways. I have broken someone’s heart. You have too. That is our nature. We’re all sinful, selfish men and women who have an innate tendency to serve the famous “Me, Myself and I” trio before anyone else.

I personally have a very transparent type of personality. I am wired to trust people. Some people are cautious. I’m not.  At least I’m not “naturally” cautious. I’ve learned through the years to develop more sensitivity to the signs that people will send you when they really don’t care for you as you hope they would. Most of the time, you know when someone does not truly love you for who you are. They send you signs. We just sometimes opt to close our eyes and ignore them. Thus, whether we had any idea that it was coming, or we were totally caught off guard, we will invariably have our hearts broken at some point in time in our lives.

Then I read this passage in Jeremiah and I remember how much my life has changed since that morning in September 1995 when I surrendered my life to Jesus. I lived my life as the “bush in the wasteland” until then. I relied 100% on human and earthly resources. I relied on my own strength, on people’s love. I relied on material guarantees and worldly riches – all of which are temporary, fragile and vain.

I had no time for God. I had no desire for Him. So He, in His love, took away much of what (I thought) I had - one by one – health, people I loved, possessions. I was broken and at the bottom of the well. It was right there that I looked up. It was right there that someone told me about Jesus. It was right there that I surrendered to Him. He held my hand. He told me I would never be alone again. He lifted me up. He pulled me out. And then, He planted me by the River of Life – the one described in Jeremiah 17. Listen to these words:

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD,  whose confidence is in Him.

They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Vs 7-8 NASB

 The image of the tree planted by the water depicts several characteristics of the life that is planted by the River of Life:

1)    This life grows – this is true for the organic aspect of the tree as much as it is for the soul that trusts in the Lord: planted in good soil, the roots will grow deeper, just as it happens when we sink our roots into the depths of the knowledge of God. Our lives will produce fruit of peace, joy and love. The spiritual life, just like the plant life, knows no stagnation. If it’s not growing, it’s dying.

2)     This life is beautiful – A robust, large tree is one of God’s most glorious creations. Its vast branches are a place of rest in the heat of the day.

Godly character, just as the tree in our passage, is beautiful. A person whose trust is in the Lord has a peaceful countenance in the midst of the hardest trials. Their presence is a rest for the weary, a godly influence for the broken-hearted.

3)    This life is strong – A strong rooted tree that is planted by the water can resist many climatic changes. It does not fear the scorching heat, the mighty winds or the torrential rains. Just as the tree, the Christian life is full of torrents and trials. As a matter of fact, for the believer, many times it seems like the furnace is turned “seven-times hotter” as it was for Daniel and his friends (Daniel 3:24-25).  But it is in the midst of the fire that we find Him, the same Presence that was with Daniel in the furnace.

Storms will make the tree which is planted by the water bend, lose some leaves and even break some branches. But the deep-rooted tree will flourish again. Likewise, the ever flowing energy that dwells in a heart that trusts God will keep a person from breaking. When our strength fails, His is unchangeable

2 Cor 4:9 says “ We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed, perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” NASB

4)     This life bears fruit – “and never fails to bear fruit” v. 8b. The fruit of a tree is the final development of its producing life. Likewise, all forms of religious thoughts and feelings, sermons and prayers culminate in this very thing: that our lives produce good fruit.

“My Father is glorified by this – that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.” John 15:7-9

If Christ is our living root, there is no limit to this process. We should bear more and more fruit as we abide in Him and the longer we abide in Him.

So the question is – where are we planted? Have we secured our roots by the River of Life and therefore receive nourishment from Its streams every day? Or are we like the “bush in the wasteland” of Jeremiah 17:6, still placing our trust in men and in worldly things? If so, our bush is what our bush will be – pitiful, small and underdeveloped. Our fruits are meager and no one will be encouraged by our lives. When trials come, we will despair. 

On the other hand – if we put our trust in God who raised His Son from the dead, the very Power who SPOKE the world into existence, the One who is All-Knowing and All-Powerful, no one and nothing will break us. The winds will strike us, the waters will pass us, and our tree, even if struck down, will rise and flourish again.

When life’s trials come our way, God’s promise in Isaiah 43 gives hope to those who are firmly planted on Him:

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you.” (NASB)

The way to peace in the midst of the storm is laid out before us. We must secure our hearts from the influence of this world and from any fears by meditating on His Word and reaching out to the Author and Keeper of life in prayer. We cannot be planted by the streams of God and stay stagnant. If we are truly in Him, our lives will show.

To those who don’t know Him and to those who do know Him as their Savior, but are wandering away from Him in the desert, hear His call today:

“Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28 (NASB)

Like a river glorious, is God’s perfect peace,

Over all victorious, in its bright increase;

Perfect, yet it floweth, fuller every day,

Perfect, yet it groweth, deeper all the way.

Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest

Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.

(Stayed Upon Jehovah by Frances Havergal, 1876)

Dear Lord, thank you that you planted my feet by Your blessed River of Life, Jesus Christ. Thank you that, although life is full of trials, Your promise to keep me from breaking is true and tried. I can look back with thankfulness at the times that you were the strength that I needed when I was too weak. And I can look forward with anticipation that you will always deliver me, protect me and provide for me. Help me to keep my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of my faith every day, and choose to keep trusting You because, unlike people, You will never break my heart.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen!

Teach us how to pray, oh Lord! – Part Two

Passage: Luke 11:5-13

Key verse: "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" (v.13) KJV

When I was a little girl, I waited for a very special gift for many years. I was about six years old when I started asking my dad for a piano. I started playing it when I was just five and it quickly became a passion. I would go to piano lessons twice every week and remember vividly how, for many years, I'd practice day in and day out on an imaginary piano on our dining room table. On birthdays, Christmas and any other special occasion I could think of, I had only one request:  I wanted my piano. I remember the disappointment when each Christmas would come and go and I did not have my biggest desire fulfilled. Then one cold winter day in 1981, I was home when my parents arrived from work. We had dinner and after that, dad said he thought someone was knocking at the front door.  As I went to the foyer to open the door, right there, before my eyes, sat a beautiful piano. My seven year old dream had finally come true. With tears of joy, I sat on my piano and played it for the first time. I cried, I laughted, I played until 1:00 in the morning! I woke up in the middle of the night to make sure it was still there. After a long wait, I received the desire of my heart.

As a child, waiting was no fun. And it still is painful. I don't think that will ever change. What has changed, however, is my understanding on why I have to wait. And as we go on studying Jesus’ teachings on prayer, we discover that we should never faint when it comes to praying for our heart’s desire:

No discouragements are ever to prevent our praying:

It is very insightful to realize that in this passage, the traveler is very importune. And his friend is selfish. He is lying in bed at night, when the traveler knocks asking for help. He does not get up. He tells his friend to go away. It’s pretty obvious that Jesus is making a very strong contrast in order to make a point. Even the most selfish people will eventually hear us if we only keep on knocking. God, in great contrast, not only in comparison to a friend of the traveler, but in comparison to an earthly father, will surely not ignore our plea. 

“Yet, because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.” (v. 8b).

These words of the Lord are not to be interpreted as if God is reluctant to answer our prayers, and therefore we must seek Him with more energy and pray louder as the worshippers of Baal seemed to believe to be the case (1 Kings 18). Rather, we should think of God as our Loving Father, who, for our sake, delays His answer that we may be more disciplined in devotion to Him; so that we may worship the Giver and not the gift.

Our request must pass through God’s grid:

This is pretty basic, but nonetheless important. We can forget to receive a positive answer from God if our request does not meet His standards of righteousness, or if our request goes against His principles. We must ask ourselves if what we are asking passes a simple test: Does it glorify Him? Does it honor His word? I believe we will easily meet these criteria if we just use Philippians 4:8 as we honestly evaluate our desires:

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” (NASB – emphasis added)

So then, if God is more loving and giving than any earthly Father could ever be, then why do we have to wait, even when what we ask for passes through God’s grid of what is honorable, right, pure, lovely and of good repute?

The meaning of God’s silence:

There are several reasons as to why God sometimes seems to be far away when we pray over and over again for the same good thing:

1)     As we keep on pleading, we draw closer to Him: one of the reasons God delays His answers is because in the process of praying and waiting, our relationship with the Heavenly Father is strengthened and we receive new insights into His Spirit. God will sometimes withhold His gifts that we may learn to desire greater things. He switches our minds and hearts to that which has eternal value. It is significant that the Lord tells His disciples in this passage that if they knocked, if they asked, God would give them the Holy Spirit. That is God’s ultimate desire for all His disciples – that we should understand His ways and walk with Him in a deeper spiritual level. If He granted everything we ever asked for as soon as we asked for it, we would have no need to draw near Him and therefore would not know Him as He so wants us to.

2)     We may be asking for the wrong thing: Even if our prayer request does pass God’s grid as I mentioned earlier; even then, it may not be the right thing for YOU: “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable.” I Co 6:12 (NASB). We may be asking for something that will give us temporary relief, whereas God has something much better in store for us than what we are asking for.

3)     It may just not be the right time yet: I sometimes picture God looking down from Heaven and seeing all that is happening in the world at the same time. He sees all the pieces of my life’s puzzle and some pieces are not quite ready to be put in place yet. They are being worked on; they are being polished and improved.  He can see past, present and future and NOW is not the time. I have to trust His plan and remember that if I want to be successful God’s way, I need to “walk by faith, not by sight” 2 Co 5:7.  A good example in my own life is regarding my husband. I waited 30 years to get married. I was very busy with my own life until I was about 27 and then… well, all my friends were married. Let me tell you: I was not happy to have to wait. But now as I look back, I clearly see it: I was not ready to be the wife God wanted me to be before. It’s a joke between me and my husband: we say that had we met each other earlier; we probably would not have given each other a second thought. God had to work on both of us - and work He did! I am so very grateful today that I waited. While I waited, Jesus became my all in many lonely moments and therefore we became close friends. And in His perfect time, He gave me the desires of my heart in the husband He chose for me.

4)     We may be expecting the answer in the wrong way: Remember Naaman? He was expecting Elisha to have an elaborate ceremony, evoking the powers of the God of Israel as he would lay hands on him in order to cure his leprosy. God’s instructions to the prophet were simple: tell him to wash in the Jordan seven times.  Voila! Healed.

We may have already laid down the precise way God will heal us or help us, and it may be that just as God did to Naaman, that He will respond in a different way, perhaps simpler. There may be an underlying issue in the way we respond to the simpler things: we may just think His open door is unworthy of us and therefore God may just be trying to teach us a lesson in humility or show us a new facet of His grace.  

The Reward is not for the weak at heart:

We know by Jesus’ teaching on this passage that while the friend did not respond immediately, he did grant the traveler’s request.  And so is with our Friend: He may not answer right away. It may take years for a specific prayer to be answered. He knows that if we receive all we ask at once, we should become overconfident and need Him no more.  But take heart, my friend: sooner or later and perhaps when you least expect it, our Heavenly Father, whose gifts are eternally good, will reward our persevering prayers with true blessings. We must ask and continually ask. We must knock and keep on knocking at the door of His mercy and power and He will surely open it to us.

This is what we can expect to have as we keep on keeping on:

1 - God’s acceptance and joy

2 - Spiritual growth

3 - True effectiveness in whatever God called you to do for His kingdom.

I leave you with David’s words in Psalms 37:25:

“ I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread.” (NASB)

“His Help is always sure,

His methods seldom guessed;

Delay will make our pleasure pure:

Surprise will give it zest.

His wisdom is sublime,

His heart, profoundly kind;

God never is before His time,

And never is behind!”

-          J.J. Lynch

Dear Lord, You are awesome. I can look back in my life and see the countless times I waited for Your answer to my prayers and I can honestly say that You have never forsaken me. Thank you that you made it so clear, the words actually came from Your Son’s mouth: You are not going to deny me Your very best. Teach me to be patient as I wait for your perfect timing. Teach me to be wise to see when what I am asking for is not Your best for me. Teach me to pray without ceasing until You answer me. Teach me to never tire to knock until You open the door to Your blessings. In Jesus’ wonderful name I pray, Amen.