If you want to flourish in life, you’ve got to believe the best about God and cultivate your trust in him.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 tells us, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and has made the Lord his hope and confidence. He is like a tree planted along a riverbank, with its roots reaching deep into the water—a tree not bothered by the heat nor worried by long months of drought. Its leaves stay green, and it goes right on producing all its luscious fruit” (TLB).
Life is difficult. It’s tough. This passage mentions two kinds of difficulties we can face: heat and drought.
Heat represents the sudden crises of life. Heat comes on suddenly. The accident. The cancer. The death. Somebody walks out of your life. It’s a sudden crisis. How do you handle the heat in your life, when the heat is on?
Then there is drought. Drought represents long periods of time when you must go without something you feel you need.
You’re out of work. You’re out of income. You’re out of energy. Somebody walks out of your life. You’re going without. How do you handle those kinds of situations?
Notice three words in the passage from Jeremiah: trust, hope, and confidence.
What bothers you? Your bank account? The future? A problem you’re facing in a relationship? What worries you? What gets you down?
It’s possible to be like a tree that keeps on blooming even in the middle of heat or in seasons of drought.
What makes the difference? The difference is in having roots!
Some of you are trusting in your career. You’ve got it made, you’re on the fast track, things are going great. When you’re hot, you’re hot! But when you’re not, you’re not.
Some of you are trusting in your bank account. Some of you are trusting in your good looks. Some of you are trusting in your husband and he’s the rock in your life. He’s the stability in your life. Or you are trusting in your wife, or your parents.
All those things are good, but there’s one significant problem. Every one of those things can be taken away from you.
You can lose your career, you can lose your money, you can lose your health, you can lose your spouse, and you can lose your family.
To have ultimate confidence, you must put your confidence in something that can never be taken from you. And there’s only one thing that can never be taken from you—your relationship to God through Jesus Christ.
Your confidence must be in the Lord. Then when the heat is on and the drought comes, you are not blown away because your roots go deep and you keep on producing fruit.
Jesus said in Matthew 7:24, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the solid rock” (NIV).
Why does the Bible say that when 2 or more pray together Jesus is amongst them. But then Jesus says I am always with you. What is the difference. Jesus also says He leads me through everyday by my right. Is it that he is just stating over and over how many different ways and the many situations he is involved in. But saying I am always with you incompasses all situations. So why all the different references to all the different situations
What is the best route to take to share my faith in- and love for- Jesus, – to my family of un-believers? I am only asking after already sharing my testimony with them, trying to live Christ-like, and praying to God to cause them to turn to Him, whatever that may look like. I feel like they’re comments sometimes tests my faith. They believe there is no God – especially because of the abuse and death in the mentally ill population. Mental illness runs in my family and as I’m typing this, I’m just realizing how much I have vented aloud regarding his treatment or the absence of since he’s been hospitalized and living in a group home (all beginning in 2011. Anyway, I always feel like I’m failing at the way I present my struggles in life and how my faith grew walking through so much pain with Jesus. So, I guess without spilling all this that I just did, basically, is there a better or best way to bring a family member or anyone else for that matter, to Jesus?
Hello Star,
First, let me say I work with folks dealing with mental illness daily. They are a part of the culture where I am. Your desire for your family to know the joy of the Lord is beautiful. However you have placed upon yourself (I believe) an unrealistic expectation. You, nor I, nor anyone can (bring) any other human into a relationship with God. We can pray for them, as you’ve said, and we can consistently and faithfully model Jesus in every aspect of our lives. When we aren’t good examples we can be honest as well, referencing our Savior who always is.
There is scripture in Romans talk about being responsible for what has been made known to us. One must ask with a person who has mental illness, how much can they be held responsible for? How much can they honestly understand? We cannot be good judges of this but I believe God is. Gods mercy doesn’t run out in spite of what is just, but it can justify us when we have no ability to do so.
Im sure there may be other opinions on this and I have an open ear and heart to whomever might have another perspective. Star depend on the Lord and be a faithful witness, pray and audaciously love this family in good and the bad, that is all the Lord ask of you.