Trust in the Lord in Order to Flourish

I was in my back yard a few weeks ago and I noticed a tree growing near my compost bin.  I tried to identify it but to no avail.

When we pulled up to our camping reservation this week I noticed we were surrounded by these same types of trees.  I knew what it was!  Sumac!

I have a thing for Sumac.  As a beekeeper  I love to use it in my smoker as it produces a nice thick moist smoke.

I recall several years ago as my family and I were traveling home from the Indiana Dunes we were traveling along a road laden with this familiar plant.

Sumac is very recognizable from a distance because it has distinct whorled pinnately compound leaves.

It flowers in a dense spike which forms a dense fruit structure called a sumac bob.

My family and I were recently having dinner at a Muslim couples home.  They served a salad with a wonderful lemony spice sprinkled over the salad.  After working through the language barrier we discovered that the spice on the salad was sumac.

Sumac's flourishing leaves and upright fruit structure remind me of the Psalm I was reading this morning.

Psalm 92:12-14

The righteous flourish like the palm tree

 and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.  

They are planted in the house of the LORD; 

they flourish in the courts of our God.  

They shall bear fruit in old age; 

they are ever full of sap and green, 

to declare that the LORD is upright; 

he is my rock,

and there is no unrighteousness in him.  

I ask the Lord, does my life look like that?  I want to bear fruit in my old age.  I want to be ever full of sap and green so that I can declare that the Lord is upright!

I wonder if my life, from a distance is obviously producing leaves that absorb the light of His countenance and then produce useful delicious fruit like the sumac.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 is one of my favorite passages that uses trees as a metaphor to someone who trusts in the Lord

"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 is 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." 

Trusting in the Lord is how we grow our roots deep into the treasury of His fount that supplies all that we need to bear fruit.

Being anxious during a season of seeming lack is not the way to growth but when we put our trust in the faithfulness of the Lord He will not let us down.  He will give us the ability to continue to bear fruit during the dry seasons in our lives.

When we are anxious we are trusting in our own flesh which Jeremiah addresses prior to verses 7-8.

"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.  

Wow!  I don't want to dwell there!  I recall going to the Great Salt Lake as a little girl.  Nothing was living in that lake.  It was lifeless and uninhabitable.

I want to be a land that flourishes where others come and find rest and encouragement but how can I myself provide that for others if I don't have it myself.

I remember years ago when the Lord taught me a very important lesson about being anxious.  When I was anxious I would feel a deep swirling in the pit of my stomach and as I turned to Him with my anxious thoughts I felt a physical manifestation in my heart.  As my thoughts shifted from me thinking about things myself to sharing those thoughts with the Lord, the swirling in my stomach moved immediately to a warmth in my heart.

Since then I rely on the Lord to be my rock and strength and I continually go to Him when I feel anxious.  Its not that I never feel anxious but it is just now I immediately include Him in my internal conversation, trusting that He will get me through.

I say, " I trust You Lord"  Can you say that with me today?  No matter what this day brings can you look to the Lord to be your strength and not rely on your own strength.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.  Be not wise in your own eyes;  fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.  It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.  Proverbs 3:5-12  

Recall that the Israelites remained in the wilderness for 40 years because they were complaining and anxious.  They were not even very far from the promised land however, they were not able to enter into the land flowing with milk and honey because they did not trust in the Lord.  

When they sent out spies to survey the land only 2 men, Caleb and Joshua believed that God could give them the land He had promised.  The other men looked at their own strength and were defeated before they even tried to enter in to the land.

Let us believe and trust in the Lord like Caleb and Joshua so that we too can enter in.  Caleb and Joshua were the only 2 men from the original community that entered in.  Not even Moses was allowed in because he relied on his own strength and didn't trust God in a moment of need.

I want to enter in to the promised land of God!  Let's enter in together!  Trusting the Lord and not being anxious for anything but keeping our eyes on the author and finisher of our faith!