“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord…
“…whose confidence is in him,” God promises in Jeremiah 17:7-8. “He 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.”
I want to be like that—so rooted in the Lord that even in times of burning stress and lonely drought, I have no worries. I want my response to be faith, not fear. Instead of griping and groaning, I want to produce peace and joy.
Hudson Taylor, the famous nineteenth-century missionary to China, lived like that. A friend wrote these words after his death:
He was an object lesson in quietness. He drew from the Bank of Heaven every farthing of his daily income—“My peace I give unto you.” Whatever did not agitate the Saviour, or ruffle His spirit was not to agitate him. The serenity of the Lord Jesus concerning any matter and at its most critical moment, this was his ideal and practical possession. He knew nothing of rush or hurry, of quivering nerves or vexation of spirit. He knew there was a peace passing all understanding, and that he could not do without it.
The longer I live, the more I realize how deeply I need that peace. And I’m learning, as Hudson Taylor clearly did, that such peace is available if I’ll only trust God.
Under His protection, I have nothing to fear.
In His loving arms, I find quietness and rest.
And the gentle beauty “which is of great worth in God’s sight.”
– At the Feet of Jesus: 365 Devotions to Nurture a Mary Heart
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Lessons from a Crabapple Tree
Check out this short Facebook Live video. Sometimes we require adversity to grow into everything God wants us to be.
I’d love to hear from you…What does being “deeply rooted in God” look like to you?