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.

Jeremiah 17: 7-8

As we go through life, there are times when our confidence wavers.  There are times of deep discouragement, disappointment and despair.  Quite often these dark moments result from the interactions we have with people around us.  For instance, have you ever put your confidence in a person and been disappointed?  Have you ever suffered a let-down by someone you trusted deeply?  It happens all the time.  Human beings are flawed, and they will let you down.  I will let you down; you will let someone down.  Significant people in your life will let you down.  That is a fact.  It doesn’t matter whether the person you trust is your father, mother, spouse, sibling or someone else, at some point in life, they will let you down.  Such let downs can lead to discouragement and despair.  Remember Job?  Job was let down by his wife and his close friends!

It is for these moments of discouragements that the prophet Jeremiah reminds us to put our confidence in God.  Jeremiah compares putting confidence in God to “a tree planted by the water that sends its roots by the stream (Psalm 1:3, Jeremiah 17:8).”  He reminds us that those who trust in God will prosper in everything that they do.  It might not be today or tomorrow or even next year, but even in those moments of drought, God never “fails to bear fruit.” 

As we train our spirits to have confidence in God, we build up the spiritual reserve and memory we will need for the race of faith (Hebrews 12: 1-2).  When the heat and drought come, we can remind ourselves whose masterpiece we are (Ephesians 2:10).  We can remind ourselves, that we serve a high priest who is acquainted with our weaknesses, confusion and despair and he is able to pour his mercy and grace upon us in our time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16).

Do you want a blessing?  Then put your trust in God.  Do you desire to be fruitful?  Then put your confidence in the Lord.  He promises that if you do so, your “leaves will always be green” (Jeremiah 17:8), so that even if you don’t understand what is going on, you will be sure that God has some eternal purpose for what you are going through (Jeremiah 29:11).

 Heavenly Father, I put my confidence in you today.  I offer you my anxieties, discouragements and disappointments and take on your blessed assurance that everything I do, today, tomorrow and in the future will prosper because I am your masterpiece, and you are still working on me, for your eternal purpose.   May you be glorified in my life.  Amen.