It has been really hard for me recently to fix my eyes on the eternal hope of Heaven and on the joy that I have in the finished work of Christ. It is easy to be overwhelmed with the struggles of everyday life. When I read this passage yesterday morning, I was uplifted and I hope you will be, too.

The years of heat and drought will still come, but the man who trusts in the Lord can continue to bear fruit without fear, because he is rooted in the Lord. The desert shrub might survive the drought but that well-watered tree can thrive.

“Thus says the LORD: “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 ESV